Council responds to coronavirus update
Noosa Mayor, Tony Wellington, said he was saddened to learn of the recent death a local Noosa Shire woman from coronavirus.
“Our deepest sympathies are with her family following their loss. It appears at this stage she may have contracted the virus from someone who was visiting from overseas. The woman subsequently travelled to Sydney where she died in a hospital.
Council has stepped up it's cleaning of council facilities inline with advice from Qld Health in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“That is all the information we have currently. However, Queensland Health assures us it has a team tracing those who may have come into recent contact with the woman.
“Although this appears to be the first death of a Queenslander from coronavirus, it is important that residents do not panic. Queensland Health, who is the lead agency in this pandemic, advise people to keep going about their ordinary business at this stage.”
Cr Wellington said Noosa Council was taking extra precautionary measures to reduce the COVID-19 risk to residents and visitors at Council-owned facilities.
“We are increasing cleaning measures at all of our public Council buildings including public toilets.
“Meanwhile, Council has a COVID-19 Management Plan in place. This includes business continuity planning to ensure that essential services are maintained by Council as this pandemic unfolds.
“This means that we have made sure that key contractors such as our garbage collection contractor and cleaning contractors can continue to provide services.
“We are also fortunate that we keep all of our ICT services in the cloud so we can provide support to our community even if our staff need to work from home in the coming weeks. We are well prepared.
“At this stage, all of our community facilities such as libraries, Noosa Aquatic Centre, Noosa Leisure Centre and The J remain open in accordance with the latest advice from Queensland Health. If that changes, we will let everyone know.
“We are also putting in place information and support to help local community and business groups.
“There is a lot of information coming out from the Commonwealth and State government and we are able to help our local community and business groups navigate through that information.
“We are also working closely with other agencies such as Vinnies, Red Cross and the Salvos to provide direct support and information to those in our community who may need help.
“It’s important that our residents remain calm, informed and that they continue to support each other,” the Mayor said. “We saw the best of our community during the recent bushfire disasters, and I’m sure we will again see wonderful community spirit during the coronavirus pandemic.”
Meanwhile, the local government elections which are independently managed by the Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) will proceed as planned. “The ECQ has informed us that local government elections will continue, although there may be some slight changes to how polling booths operate in light of the pandemic.
“Time is running out for those who wish to lodge a postal vote for the March 28 local government elections, with the ECQ declaring it cannot extend today’s (Monday) 7pm deadline.
“While pencils will be available at polling booths, the ECQ is now recommending that voters bring their own pen or pencil.”
This information comes as two pre-polling centres open in Noosa today.
- Bushlands Shopping Centre, 6 Swanbourne Way, Noosaville
- Uniting Church Hall, 51 Maple Street, Cooroy
Anyone who is has concerned about their health should contact Queensland Health in 13 HEALTH for advice, or contact their GP.
Further information about coronavirus can be found on the Queensland Health website, or residents can follow the links from Council’s website.