There were sighs of relief around the country that the highly-infectious UK COVID-19 strain found in a Brisbane cleaner has so far not taken hold among the community. Indeed, there were just three new locally acquired virus cases reported in the past 24 hours, and all linked to established clusters in NSW. In stark contrast, chief medical officer Paul Kelly pointed to the overseas toll where almost three-quarters of a million cases were recorded globally over the same period. There were also 12,000 deaths around the world, making a total of almost two million since the pandemic began. “We’ve not had a death from someone who was acutely sick with COVID-19 since October,” Professor Kelly told reporters in Canberra on January 10. “In many other countries, the hospitals and intensive care units are absolutely full and deaths are mind-boggling.” The Greater Brisbane region will remain in lockdown until 6 pm …