1 AUGUST QLD
One new coronavirus case in Queensland linked to women who flouted quarantine after Melbourne trip
One new coronavirus case in Queensland linked to women who flouted quarantine after Melbourne trip
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/brisbane/one-new-coronavirus-case-in-queensland-linked-to-women-who-flouted-quarantine-after-melbourne-trip/ar-BB17qP0x?ocid=msedgntp1 new case of coronavirus has been confirmed in Queensland and has been linked to three women who allegedly flouted quarantine rules after returning from Melbourne, Health Minister Steven Miles says. He said the woman who has tested positive is the wife of a 27-year-old man who tested positive yesterday, and that she was already in quarantine.The woman works at the Bolton Clarke aged care facility in Pinjarra Hills.
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/aged-care-worker-tests-positive-in-qld-linked-to-case-yesterday/vi-BB17rd2c?ocid=msedgntpAged care worker tests positive in Qld, linked to case yesterday
The new coronavirus case is wife of a man who tested positive yesterday. Qld Health has confirmed the woman was already in quarantine but may have been infectious while working in an aged care facility.
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/aged-care-worker-tests-positive-to-covid-19/ar-BB17r0Pz?ocid=msedgdhp#image=1The woman works at the Bolton Clark Fairview aged care facility in Pinjarra Hills. "We do think that it's possible she was infectious when she worked her last shift at that facility," Dr Young said.
Yesterday Dr Young praised the woman for self isolating as soon as she found out she had dined at a venue which was subject to a public health alert.
Dr Young said extra nurses would be brought in to the facility to assist with the health response.
All residents are in isolation in their rooms as a precautionary measure.
Mr Miles said the link to the 3 women who returned from Melbourne and the latest case had now put vulnerable people at risk."It does underline just how serious this is … other people's relatives could get sick and could die," he said.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said the woman may unknowingly have worked at the centre while she was infectious."We do think that it's possible she was infectious when she worked her last shift at that facility," Dr Young said. She said extra nurses would be brought in to the facility to assist with the health response.
Dr Young described the aged care facility — which has 150 staff and 105 residents — as "superb" and said staff there were doing an excellent job.
She said all residents and staff would be tested and the residents were already separated. "It is a superb facility — it couldn't be better set up for a situation like this," Dr Young said."All of the residents have their own private bedroom with and ensuite bathroom. "This is the best possible place for those residents."
Dr Young said all of the residents would be monitored "much more closely" for symptoms. "If any of those residents do test positive though we will immediately move them to a hospital."
'Not through this yet'
Dr Young said the two latest cases had been "model citizens" for self-isolating when they determined they might have been at risk. "They really and truly have been unbelievably fantastic," she said. "They've been out there minimising their contact since they first realised there was an issue."
But she said she remained concerned more cases would be added to the cluster."We're not through it yet," she said.
'It's so easy for this virus to get out of control — we've seen it."
Mr Miles said more than 11,000 people were tested across the state yesterday. "Queenslanders did an amazing job … we cracked our record number of COVID-19 tests. We smashed passed it in fact," he said.
Overnight, Queensland Health released a list of places that the 27-year-old man might have visited while infectious.
Mr Miles told people who had been in those locations that there was "no need to panic". "It's designed to assist you with assessing what your level of risk is," he said. "If they have any concerns at all for their health, they should go and get tested."
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/coronavirus-queensland-suburbs-hit-with-health-alert/vi-BB17qyk0?ocid=msedgntpQueensland suburbs hit with health alert
More than 10 suburbs in Queensland’s East have been issued with a health alert over COVID-19 fears
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/health-alert-for-major-shopping-centre-after-latest-queensland-case/ar-BB17qALU?ocid=msedgntpHealth Alert for major shopping centre after latest Queensland case
Late yesterday Queensland Health authorities issued a Public Health Alert for locations in the West Moreton and Brisbane South area, after a 27-year-old man tested positive for coronavirus.
The source of the man's infection is believed to be the group of women who travelled to Melbourne and dined at a Korean restaurant, instead of being in quarantine.
The man is believed to have dined with his wife and sister at the Madtongsan IV restaurant in Sunnybank.
Both of those women are nurses at the Pinjarra Hills Bolton Clarke Fairview aged care facility, along with a third person who has been in contact with the new case.
That facility has been placed into lockdown, with all residents isolated to their rooms.
The trio worked at the facility for five days before learning of their exposure.
Further contact tracing has been conducted by Queensland Health authorities and anyone who has been in the below locations during the relevant times has been asked to monitor their health and immediately seek testing if they are experiencing any relevant symptoms.
SUNDAY JULY 26
11.30-11.35am — Caltex Goodna — Goodna
12.30-2.10pm — Sleeman Sports Complex* — Chandler
4-7pm — Garden City Shopping Centre — Mount Gravatt
4-5pm — Kmart at Garden City Shopping Centre — Mount Gravatt
4.30-5pm — JB Hi-Fi at Garden City Shopping Centre — Mount Gravatt
around 5pm — MOS Burger at Garden City Shopping Centre — Mount Gravatt
around 6pm — Chatime at Garden City — Mount Gravatt
MONDAY JULY 27
10-10.30am — Café 63 — Redbank Plains
11am-1pm — Bunnings Springfield — Springfield
3.15-4pm — Bunnings Oxley — Oxley
6-8.30pm — Basketball Court Springfield Lakes* — Springfield Lakes
8.45-8.55pm — Nando's Kenmore — Kenmore
TUESDAY JULY 28
8.40-8.45am — Caltex Wacol — Wacol
WEDNESDAY JULY 29
around 10.45am — Richlands Medical Centre Richlands Plaza — Richlands
around 11.35am — SNP Collection Centre Forrest Lake — Forrest Lake
Border closure extended to include Sydney
Millions now locked out of Queensland to try to contain coronavirus clusters
https://www.msn.com/en-au/money/markets/millions-now-locked-out-of-queensland-to-try-to-contain-coronavirus-clusters/ar-BB17qP5s?ocid=msedgdhpThousands of people have made a last-minute dash for entry into Queensland before the border was officially closed to Greater Sydney just after midnight.
Passengers packed dozens of extra flights arriving at Brisbane Airport and long traffic delays were experienced at the vehicle crossing checkpoint on the Gold Coast.
As of 1:00am, residents of the Greater Sydney area — or anyone travelling there in the future — are banned from entering the Sunshine State.
Queenslanders returning home after the deadline must now quarantine in a hotel for 14 days at their own expense.
Professional boxer Sam Ah-See was one of the few who made it into Queensland on a late flight yesterday, just in time for an important fight in Townsville next month.
"I'm just lucky that I got out in time — it would have been a big mess for me if I didn't," Mr Ah-See said.
The 29-year-old is on his way to fight in the Jeff Horn and Tim Tszyu event on August 26, a career highlight for the up-and-coming athlete. But he was worried his opponent had not made the cut-off.
"It would have been a bummer if I missed it, but I'm not sure I'll get to fight if he doesn't make it," Ah-See said.
Sydneysiders Zoe and Jennifer Elsworth also came through on one of the last flights out of Sydney.
The pair were meant to settle on their new home in Queensland next week and would have missed the milestone because of the restrictions."We had the flights booked for Sunday so we had to reschedule them before the border closes," Jennifer Elsworth said."We're both from a low-risk area, so we don't feel like we're endangering anyone, but we'd happily quarantine if we had to, just to get there."
Andrew Watson, also from Sydney, booked a holiday flight to Brisbane as soon as he heard the border was going into lockdown."I would have been devastated if I couldn't have gone, because I wanted to get away from these cold conditions," he said."I'll get in just in time, have a few days up in the warmth, and then return to Sydney.
"You can't go to Victoria, you can't go to South Australia, you can't go to Perth or Northern Territory — so this was the only place left to go if you wanted to travel."
The Greater Sydney hotspot declaration shuts out about 5 million potential visitors, on top of the 6 million people already banned in Victoria.
Major airline operators have announced severe cutbacks in flight routes because of the drop in demand.
Qantas and Jetstar will reduce their services from Sydney to Queensland, including temporarily suspending flights to Coolangatta and Cairns as of Monday.
Virgin also cancelled all direct flights between Sydney and Cairns.
Queensland locked out of other states
As Queensland locked out its southern neighbours, other state leaders were taking similar action against the Sunshine State.
The Tasmanian Government announced it would soon ban travel into the state from a number of yet to be announced "Queensland hotspots". The cautious approach was being taken after a cluster of Queensland cases emerged, linked with two women accused of bringing the virus into the state from Victoria.
The women were charged with lying on their border declaration forms and fraud, and tested positive for coronavirus eight days after returning to Queensland.
Speaking on Friday, Tasmania director of public health Mark Veitch said the "hotspots" would include places visited by the women.
"There are a number of … places we now know they spent several hours in, and it's possible those are the sorts of settings where infection can be transmitted," Dr Veitch said. "We will be adding those locations to a list of what we call 'affected premises'."
Other state leaders, including in South Australia, indicated they were also considering tightening restrictions for Queensland residents.
The Northern Territory Chief Medical Officer has declared Brisbane, Ipswich and Logan as coronavirus hotspots.
Since midnight on Friday, anyone arriving in the Northern Territory from these areas is required to quarantine, at their own cost.
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/nt-declares-brisbane-ipswich-and-logan-as-coronavirus-hotspots/ar-BB17qDxX?ocid=msedgntpNT declares Brisbane, Ipswich and Logan as coronavirus hotspots
The Northern Territory has declared Brisbane, Ipswich and Logan in south-east Queensland as coronavirus hotspots.
The NT government announced anyone arriving from the three regions would be sent into hotel quarantine at their own expense.
The health directions took effect at midnight.
A Northern Territory man tested positive to coronavirus after travelling to Melbourne with a child who needed emergency medical treatment.
Charges laid over alleged border smuggle attempt
In the past 24 hours, more than 5,000 people have flown into Queensland, with 114 people diverted to hotel quarantine, while one person was refused entry.
At road border checkpoints, 6,745 cars have been intercepted and 80 turned around.
Mr Miles said people from 35 cars were sent to into hotel quarantine.
Police are also investigating an incident where 2 people tried to cross the border in the back of a truck. Mr Miles said the people would be charged for breaching the COVID-19 travel restrictions. "It should send a message to anyone … they will be caught," he said.