CHO gets death threats after blocking nurse from father's funeral

Queensland’s Chief Health Officer has police officers outside her home and with her everywhere she goes after receiving death threats over her handling of interstate border exemption cases.

Jeannette Young faced an onslaught of criticism after denying 26-year-old Canberra nurse Sarah Caisip's plea to leave hotel quarantine to attend her father's funeral with her mother and sister.

Australian Medical Association Queensland president Dr Chris Perry revealed on Nine's Today Show on Monday that Dr Young received death threats from the public following coverage of the case.

Dr Young said she was grateful for police protection, not because of the physical protection they provided but because it showed the government was supporting her in her decisions.

"It has taken an enormous toll on me, but then this has taken an enormous toll on nearly every single person in our community. Every single person in our community in Queensland has had to give up an awful lot. And we can't see a clear end to this," she said.

“This is a tough time for everyone, and I hope everyone has got a way of managing their mental health, of being able to talk to someone that they love, that they can work through issues with.”

The LNP opposition raised the case last week at the last sitting of State Parliament before the October election, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison raised its profile by calling in to talk radio host Ray Hadley’s program to criticise the Queensland government’s handling of the case.

"[The fact] that our government here in Queensland is prepared to support me to that extent ... has made me feel much safer doing what I need to do and knowing that I'm supported in doing it,” Dr Young said.

"I went for a long walk on Saturday. That helped enormously, being out in the fresh air and being able to see our beautiful, beautiful scenery and community here in Queensland."

Brisbane region crime and intelligence coordinator Detective Superintendent Tony Fleming said it was a case of "you’ve essentially got the trolls increasing the angst there".

"Where there is postings and information that gives us concern for the wellbeing of anyone, we will take action, either they will come to us or we will go to them," he said,

"My understanding is that we’re satisfied the CHO is safe and those general responses we’ve put in place is more than satisfactory.

"We live in challenging times, don’t we? If you look at what happens around the world, there are some angry people.

"We are hyper-alert to community safety, that’s what we’re in the business of, it’s not just about locking people up for committing an offence, we want to stop it happening."

Australian Medical Association Queensland president Chris Perry gave Dr Young his full support on Monday.

“Jeannette now has a couple of police who are outside her house and who go with her everywhere," Dr Perry told Today Show.

"She’s had to have extra help sorting through the applications for quarantine exemptions, she was getting over 100 per day and she was trying to deal with it all herself … she now has eight or 10 people who can help her to that, so it’s been quite stressful and it has not been helped by cowardly people threatening to take the life of a woman."

Dr Perry said he expected the Queensland-NSW border to reopen "soon".

"We’ve got to make our choice, do we want more people at funerals or do we want more COVID funerals?" he said.

A stepsister of Ms Caisip criticised the Prime Minister at the weekend for inserting himself in a difficult situation for the family.

Alexandra Prendergast wrote a letter to Mr Morrison saying she was "extremely disappointed that you have used my family to try and advance your political agenda".