Opinion - Please attribute the below to Dr Jeannette Young, Chief Health Officer:
Queenslanders - you are brilliant, you truly are.
Thanks to record-breaking testing numbers, wearing masks, social distancing, restricting our movements and getting vaccinated, we've been able to get ourselves just ahead in this race; a race against the spread of COVID-19 that we are all unfortunately part of.
Our case numbers are a testament of our efforts. We expected already high case numbers to continue to grow – instead, they dropped.
To everyone in the 11 Local Government Areas who have been in lockdown, thank you. Thank you for staying home, thank you for wearing masks, and thank you for getting tested. It's because of you that we are where we are.
To our Cairns family, friends and colleagues – you can do this.
This outbreak is a stark reminder about why we can't be complacent.
Looking at our interstate neighbours, the writing is on the wall.
New South Wales is in a long, relentless battle, and Victoria is in lockdown for the sixth time.
Looking internationally, countries like the UK, India and Indonesia are rife with the virus, and tragically, with too many deaths on their hands.
In Queensland, we are facing our own test.
We've dealt with more than 10 incursions in the past two months. The most recent cluster being the most significant, with more than 100 cases so far.
The reason we keep stopping these incursions in their tracks is you. Each and every one of you hunkering down and doing what you need to do to get us through this. If you didn't follow the restrictions, wear masks, get tested, keep your distance, wash your hands, check into venues… who knows where we would be.
We're so close to successfully beating this outbreak.
I want to thank Queensland's contact tracers for their vital part in this – I may be biased, but they are the cream of the crop. They've worked tirelessly day and night to keep on top of these cases and find links between them. Some are easier to find than others.
