Queensland: Really shitty Christmas present – isolation !UPDATE! not so shitty

UPDATE

In the last hour, Queensland Health Minister Yvonne D’Ath has changed the fate of two planeloads of passengers, who probably won’t spend Christmas in isolation. It has been confirmed – with the exception of the travel group which the infected person was part of, and those sitting closeby on the flights – all other passengers on the 2 Virgin flights will be freed from isolation as soon as they return a negative PCR test.

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Previously . . .

Queensland is new to welcoming travellers into its state. Essentially, they have spent 2 years out of practice. Well, that’s the only excuse I can find for forcing the passengers on two flights into the state to isolate themselves for Christmas.

On Tuesday night, Queensland ordered all the passengers who flew Newcastle to Brisbane on flight VA1105 at lunchtime on Monday, and Brisbane to Townsville on flight VA37, as they had been exposed to a person who tested positive on those flights.

It’s not known why all passengers were declared as ‘close contacts’ instead of just those seated in close proximity to the positive testing passenger

Other exposure flights last week

Contact tracers declared three flights into Queensland last week as COVID-19 exposure sites: deemed close contacts.

• Jetstar JQ942 Melbourne to Cairns, Friday, December 10, 6.29am and 8.43am. Rows 23-27 are considered close contacts. All other passengers are casual contacts.
• Virgin Australia VA313 from Melbourne to Brisbane, Saturday, December 11, 8.06am to 9.13am. Rows 17-21 are close contacts. All other passengers are casual contacts.
• Qantas QF536 from Sydney to Brisbane on Saturday, December 11, 4.13pm to 6.07pm. Rows 15-19 are close contacts. All other passengers are casual contacts.

Close contacts must isolate, get tested, and quarantine for 14 days from the exposure date. Casual contacts too, but quarantine only until a negative result is received.

Mask Mandate

It’s also predicted that mask-wearing will again be de rigour in Queensland soon, as a reaction to these outbreaks.

2PAXfly Takeout

This is another timely reminder to wear your seatbelt when seated. Holding you close to your seat will protect you from the sort of injuries sustained on this flight, when unsecured passengers flew to the ceiling of the aircraft, and then came crashing down once the ‘drop’ ceased.

The hope will be that this is an anomaly – a ‘freak accident’ in casual parlance. If it is a systemic error either mechanical or electronic, then this is a larger concern for the airlines that fly Boeing Dreamliner 787 aircraft. Let’s hope it isn’t. If it is, it will pile on the woes to Boeing’s existing stack.

There are alternatives, with rapid testing and shorter isolation periods possible. On the other hand, I appreciate Queensland’s caution, despite the inconvenience to travellers of isolation for Christmas.

Queensland is perhaps out of practice in dealing with these outbreaks. This situation is novel for them. Still given the savage increase in positive cases in New South Wales overnight, I’m not surprised at Queensland’s caution. Hell, If I ruled NSW, there wouldn’t be any relaxation of mask-wearing, let alone allowing the great un-vaccinated out and about.