Highlights
- No new coronavirus cases have been recorded in Queensland, but health authorities say the United Kingdom variant is likely to still be present in Brisbane
- In New South Wales, there have been five new local infections with authorities urging people from western Sydney to come forward for COVID-19 testing
- Mr Hazzard is urging people especially in multicultural communities in Western Sydney to come forward
No new cases of coronavirus have been detected in Brisbane but contact tracers are racing to find people who may have gotten close to people who have the highly infectious United Kingdom variant of the virus.
The only new community case reported in the last five days is the partner of a quarantine hotel cleaner who already tested positive.
Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young is urging anyone who visited two sites where the man visited to get tested.
"So, I am asking people who went to any of the venues that he went to please immediately come forward and get tested. The risk is low, but the risk is there. So, I really ask you to come forward. So, those two venues he went to on the 5th of January he went to the Bunnings Warehouse at Acacia Ridge between 2pm and 2.40pm. Then the next day on the 6th of January he went to the Sunnybank Cellars at Hellawell Road in Sunnybank Hills between 2.05 and 2.15pm."
The snap three-day lockdown for Greater Brisbane has now ended, but some restrictions will stay in place and masks must still be worn indoors and carried at all times in the region.
Meanwhile New South Wales has recorded five new COVID-19 cases of community transmission, while 11 new overseas cases have been detected in hotel quarantine from a total of 14,700 tests.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard says testing levels need to be over 25,000 a day to be able to stay on top of the virus.
Mr Hazzard is urging people especially in multicultural communities in Western Sydney to come forward.
"I understand, particularly in our multicultural community, that some members have come from countries where information doesn't remain private when you go to see your health official. Here in Australia, 100 per cent, when you go and see your doctor, it's confidential. When you talk to a public health official, no matter what you've done, no matter how many people you've had to your place, you need to know it's confidential. You need to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Because that helps us get this virus under control. "
The Northern Territory has removed Greater Sydney as a whole from its coronavirus hotspot list, replacing it with specific council areas across the city's western suburbs.
The New South Wales local government areas that remain as hotspots in the Territory include the cities of Blacktown, Canada Bay, Canterbury-Bankstown, Fairfield and Parramatta, the Cumberland and Inner West councils, plus the municipalities of Burwood and Strathfield.
