Coronavirus Qld: Nursing home locked down, photo evidence emerges
As Brisbane’s second case of community transmission sends a nursing home into lockdown, an image has emerged of a coronavirus-positive woman dining at a local restaurant. Picture: 7 News
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Health authorities fear a woman was unknowingly infected with COVID-19 while working an eight-hour shift at a Brisbane nursing home.
The Bolton Clarke aged care facility in Pinjarra Hills is now on high alert, with all residents and staff to be tested.
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It is Queensland’s second case of community transmission since May, with officials bracing for more positive results across the southeast after three women sparked the crisis when they returned to Brisbane, allegedly lying about visiting Melbourne.
The new case, a woman in her 30s, is the wife of a 27-year-old man diagnosed with the virus this week.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said it was possible the woman was infectious “when she worked her last shift”.
She last worked on July 28.
The woman and her husband had dined at a Sunnybank restaurant adjacent to one of the women, who has since tested positive after returning from Melbourne and been charged, on July 23.
A photo taken at the Madtongsan IV restaurant in Sunnybank on July 23 has helped authorities trace the community transmission.
Retailers have since rushed to deep-clean shopfronts and staff will undergo testing after it was revealed the woman’s husband had visited one of the southeast’s largest shopping centres – Westfield Garden City in Mount Gravatt – on July 26 before he was diagnosed.
The shopping centre was a ghost town yesterday, but The Sunday Mail observed that people were still not social distancing at various other popular public areas despite urgent pleas, including from Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, to do the right thing.
Queensland Health will provide additional staff to the Bolton Clarke aged care facility as some employees will need to go into quarantine.
Praising the aged care home, Dr Young assured the relatives of residents that their loved ones were receiving the best possible care.
“I know that the facility is organising ways for their residents to talk to their families,” she said.
Dr Young said if any residents tested positive, they would be moved to a hospital.
She praised the infected woman and her husband, saying they have been “absolutely model citizens”.
The alarming situation in Queensland comes as Australia hit a grim new COVID milestone – 200 deaths.
As the World Health Organisation warned the effects of the coronavirus pandemic would be felt for decades, another 397 cases were reported in Victoria yesterday, with three people dying.
New South Wales recorded 17 more cases.
The Northern Territory has declared greater Brisbane, Logan and Ipswich as hot spots, shutting out millions of Queenslanders.
Two of the women who returned from Melbourne were yesterday in a stable condition in hospital.
Store managers and customers at Westfield Garden City said the shopping centre was very quiet compared to recent weekends.
Heritage Park local Donna Peters and her sons Riley and Darcy said they felt safe visiting the centre but decided to wear masks as a precaution.
Annica Carverry, from South Brisbane, said she felt comfortable visiting the centre but was being cautious about her movements.
“My first thought when I heard about it was not to touch anything,” she said.
Bolton Clarke chief operating officer David Swain said the facility had been actively monitoring residents’ health and wellbeing with daily clinical observations since March, and was now conducting more frequent observations as a precaution.
“No residents … are currently symptomatic,” he said.
“We continue to work closely with Queensland Health to reduce any potential risk.
“Under the advice of Queensland Health, residents will continue to receive care in their rooms.”
The home has rostered on additional staff and provided extra mobile phones and iPads to ensure residents remain connected with their families.
Meanwhile Dr Young said she would not criticise Queenslanders who erred on the side of caution by cancelling parties and reservations.
“I am still concerned; we have had this cluster of cases and we’re not through it yet, so, I think this is the time to just go back and remember all those basic principles,” she said.
“If you feel more comfortable managing your risks by cancelling things, then I commend you for it.”
Asked if that was necessary, she said: “I will always recommend people to err on the side of caution.”