Queensland has recorded a new locally-acquired case of COVID-19 in a truck driver and placed an entire family in hotel quarantine, with some of them unwell after they were believed to have returned from Melbourne.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the truckie, who lives at Windaroo, was picked among 10,433 virus tests in the 24 hours to 6.30am on Thursday.
The man, who is currently in NSW, was infectious in the community around Logan and the Gold Coast between August 28 and September 1.
"We are contacting him to find where he has been in Queensland," Ms Palaszczuk told parliament on Friday.
"This is an addition to the truck driver reported yesterday."
Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said authorities have also placed an entire Gold Coast family of five into hotel quarantine after the children told their classmates they had been to Melbourne.
She said early indications are the family returned to the state undetected via an inland route without going into hotel quarantine.
Ms D'Ath said it's a difficult situation because some family members are unwell with symptoms, but they're not cooperating with health authorities and contact-tracers.
"Some of the family members who are unwell, but we don't know if it's COVID we have to treat it as if it is," she told parliament.
"And so, the school is working with us on that and we really do hope the family do cooperate with us because it's in the best interest of everyone, including their own health, because we really want to make sure if they've gotten COVID that we are able to treat them."
Queensland has already been on alert after another truckie tested positive in NSW after being infectious while in the Sunshine State last week.
Authorities sent an alert on Thursday morning saying that driver had also visited a third service station at Bundamba, near Ipswich, also on August 26.
He later tested positive when he returned to NSW and Queensland authorities are trying to track down anyone who may have come into contact with him.
The case comes as Queensland's border is still shut to the southern state for all but essential workers who have had at least one vaccine.
Ms Palaszczuk says domestic hotel quarantine will reopen for Queenslanders stranded instate from Saturday.
The program, which was paused due to capacity strain last week, will only be open for 50 families initially.
The premier told parliament on Thursday that she wanted to see more modelling on the impact of opening on 0- to 12-year-olds before she made any commitment to easing border restrictions.
"I want to know what is going to happen to the children of this state," she said.
"It is a fundamental question that is omitted from any modelling."
Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who said the Doherty Institute modelling indicated more children would get COVID-19 but wouldn't have serious symptoms, urged premiers not to delay opening up.
"My message to the premiers and the chief ministers is very clear: Do not delay the inevitable. You have to learn to live with COVID. COVID may come to your state within a week, it might be a month, it might be a little bit after that. But the reality is we can't eliminate the virus," he told Nine's Today program on Friday.
"There's only one pathway out ... that's to get people vaccinated."
Queensland's vaccination coverage is the second-lowest in the nation after Western Australia.
Just under 52 per cent of eligible Queenslanders have had one vaccine and 32.28 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Australian Associated Press
