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Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath says a new system will be used to ensure people in home quarantine do not leave the premises.Credit:Matt Dennien

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said close contacts forced to quarantine at home would have to use a check-in system that would allow real-time monitoring of compliance.

It will send a text message to people quarantining,at least once a day at a random time,which will include a hyperlink they must open within 10 minutes.

“This means Queensland Health will be able to ensure individuals in home quarantine are at the residence they are lawfully allowed to be at,” Ms D’Ath said.

“This new check-in feature of our home quarantine system will also enable authorities to check on the welfare of those in home quarantine which,as we know,can be a challenging time for individuals and families.

“Text messages,phone calls and random inspections for compliance have long been the hallmarks of our home quarantine system,but as the virus evolves,so must our response.”

A new public health direction states people in home quarantine must activate,and keep activated,data services and precise geolocation services on their mobile phone.

If they respond to the SMS web link and the response is outside an “acceptable geolocation range”,they will receive a compliance visit from authorities.

Anyone deemed to be breaking the rules will be fined up to $13,785 or could face up to six months in jail,and they will be directed to enter hotel quarantine at their own cost.

Queensland recorded one new local case of COVID-19 linked to a school cluster on Brisbane’s southside on Thursday.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the student at St Thomas More College was in home quarantine and had not been infectious in the community.

There were also two other cases that were overseas-acquired and detected in hotel quarantine.

After announcing Queensland Health’s vaccination hubs would offer Pfizer jabs to people older than 60 on Wednesday,Ms Palaszczuk said there would be special lanes for over-70s and people who had trouble with mobility.

“People told me they wanted a choice[of vaccine] and now they have it,” she said.

“I’m advised the federal government has also seen the value of it and it too will makePfizer available to 60s and older to get from their local GPs.“

Ms D’Ath said from next week,there would have been three vaccines available for people under 60 - Pfizer,AstraZeneca and Moderna - but only one for people 60-plus.

“This[decision to allow over 60s to get Pfizer from GPs] gives choice to those who are 60 and over,” she said.

Ms Palaszczuk said Queensland had the “mud army” during the 2011 floods,the “care army” during the pandemic and she now wanted people to sign up to the “jab army”.

Queensland Health delivered 25,570 vaccines on Wednesday,another daily record,with 57.63 per cent of eligible people now having received one dose and 39.35 per cent two doses.

Another truck driver from NSW has sparked a COVID alert after testing positive,with the Goondiwindi BP truck stop added as anexposure site on September 8.

Meanwhile,a case of COVID-19 was confirmed in the Lismore area,with the city being plunged into another lockdown,prompting Queensland authorities toexclude it from the border bubble.

The Northern NSW Local Health District announced the person attended a school in Goonellabah on Monday,with the school to be closed on Thursday.

The border bubble with Queensland,reinstated on Monday,allowed residents to cross between states for essential work.

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