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Warning Queensland Covid outbreak could get out of control

An Australian infectious disease expert has warned that the Queensland Covid outbreak could get out of control after the state recorded the highest number of daily cases in almost a year.

Director of Infectious Diseases at Mater Health, Dr Paul Griffin, told Weekend Today on Sunday that Queensland had been “lucky” to avoid widespread outbreaks of the Delta variant so far.

However, he cautioned that it could easily change.

"This [strain] is very different. This one really does have the makings of something significant," he said.

A photo of a Brisbane street in the city showing people walking and wearing masks.
An expert warned that QLD's latest outbreak of Covid-19 could get out of control. Source: Getty

Queensland records nine new cases of Covid-19

Queensland recorded nine new Covid-19 infections on Sunday, making it the highest daily increase in local cases the state has seen in almost a year.

Dr Griffin said that if lockdown "doesn’t all go according to plan", Queensland could continue to see community transmission from the outbreak.

"There's a lot of concerning elements about this, including where these people have been, how many exposure sites there are, how many people are already infected as a result," he continued.

"So I do think we need a comprehensive and swift range of mitigation strategies which is what we've seen."

Queensland entered a snap lockdown at 4pm on Saturday after six cases of community-transmitted coronavirus were recorded. The cluster's total jumped from seven to 18 in 24 hours.

Eleven LGAs including Brisbane, Ipswich and Gold Coast will be in lockdown until Tuesday at 4pm.

"This will be the strictest lockdown that we have had," Deputy Premier Steven Miles said.

"We must go hard and go early".

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