Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
ABC News
ABC News
Health

COVID border protests slammed by Queensland government as QR code check-in introduced for taxis and rideshare

Queensland's Deputy Premier Steven Miles announces the state has again recorded zero cases of COVID-19.

Queensland has recorded another day of zero community COVID cases, and no cases in hotel quarantine.

The state's total number is 1,964, with 9,918 tests completed in 24 hours.

Just 39 cases remain active after 12 people were discharged.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said Queensland Health was continuing to ramp up vaccinations, with just over 13,000 administered.

More than 3 million vaccine doses have been put into the arms of Queenslanders since they became available.

There are now 970 people in home quarantine, a stark contrast to the 19,000 that were quarantined at the peak of the Indooroopilly outbreak.

Mr Miles said the new restrictions at the New South Wales border requiring essential workers to have received their first vaccination, were resulting in a dramatic reduction in vehicles entering Queensland.

"We intercepted 2,715 vehicles, 142 of those were turned away, 12 of those were essential workers who would've been admitted if they had have been vaccinated," he said.

Protests on the border

On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people joined an anti-lockdown protest on the Queensland-New South Wales border.

It followed another protest held on Saturday, in which about 2,000 demonstrators gathered in Brisbane's CBD.

The Deputy Premier says protests at Coolangatta make the police's job harder. (Supplied: Kimberley Bernard)

Mr Miles called Saturday's protests "shameful and reckless".

"That's not the kind of behaviour Queenslanders do, it's very un-Queensland like," he said.

"We've gotten through this because Queenslanders have done the right thing, we've kept each other safe."

The Deputy Premier said the border was at the most risk of infection due to the worsening situation in New South Wales.

"The border is our riskiest place right now," he said.

"By having a protest there, we make the jobs of our police harder: they put their own safety at risk as well as the safety of the community and I'm frankly pretty disgusted."

Check in app required for taxis, rideshare

From Monday August 30, 20,000 taxis, limousines and rideshare vehicles will be required to have the QR code app, and riders will be required to scan the code.

"We saw in Cairns, just how risky an infected taxi driver could be," Mr Miles said.

"We were very fortunate in Cairns, not to see further transmission from that case.

A Cairns taxi driver tested positive to COVID, sending the region into a snap lockdown. (AAP: Sean Davey)

"[QR codes] will allow us, that if in the future we have a COVID case in one of those vehicles we will be able to trace those people who may have had contact with it."

Transport Minister Mark Bailey urged taxi, rideshare and limousine businesses to go online and register.

"This is about speed and efficiency," he said.

"If we have another outbreak, we want to be able to contact trace as quickly and efficiently as possible."

Taxi Council of Queensland CEO Blair Davies said the industry had been calling for the change for several weeks.

"Our drivers will assist any passengers that don't have a smart phone," he said.

The COVID check-in app sign will be on front and rear passenger doors. (ABC News: Alex Papp)
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.