Coronavirus Qld: State’s case numbers revealed as Premier faces media over Blackwater case

The Premier and Deputy Steven Miles have both offered public apologies to Nathan Turner’s partner and family over his initial COVID-19 diagnosis.

HEALTH Minister Steven Miles has apologised to the partner and family of Blackwater man Nathan Turner after it was revealed he did not have coronavirus when he died.

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young confirmed overnight that further tests carried out by the Coroner on the 30-year-old had returned negative to COVID-19.

While announcing that Queensland had recorded one new case in the past 24 hours, Mr Miles said he was “deeply sorry” to Mr Turner’s partner and family, acknowledging that the circumstances had only compounded their grief.

“Our ability to control this virus requires us to respond rapidly to every single positive test,” he said.

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“We have to treat every positive test as though it is a positive case.

“However, I would like to personally apologise to his partner and his family for any distress that our actions in responding rapidly have caused them.

“The loss of any life, particularly a life so young, is incredibly sad.

“I know it’s been incredibly distressing for them, and to have to grieve under these circumstances, under this level of scrutiny, in some cases in quarantine, has only compounded that tragedy and their grief. And to them, I am so deeply sorry.”

Speaking in Townsville, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk echoed her deputy’s apology.

“Of course we’re very sorry for the distress that the family is going through at the moment and has experienced,” she said.

“To the people of Blackwater, thank you very much for cooperating, and we have to take the advice of help at the time and that rapid response wants to be deployed.

And we know we’re still not out of the woods yet but our response to COVID across the board, across Queensland, has been very good, but I do understand there’s a lot of concern about that case.

“We have found that it has happened in other states as well. It’s a whole new virus. We have to take the health advice at the time, and if we don’t act, and it ends up being worse, and we would be negligent for not acting, so I really thank the community for the understanding.”

Ms Palaszczuk said the Blackwater community’s response to the perceived case was evidence of the great work Queenslanders have done to keep infection rates so low, praising Queensland Health for its role, too.

“I think Queensland Health are doing the best they possibly can. You only have to look at our results in Queensland it has been incredible,” she said.

“And the fact that the community is coming forward and getting tested, the fact that people are doing the right thing with social distancing is a credit to every single Queenslander and every single family, and because of your great work that is why we have been able to ease restrictions sooner than was initially planned.”

Mr Miles backed the Chief Health Officer, saying he was confident that the steps she took were “entirely appropriate in the circumstances”.

“It is Queensland’s very cautious approach that has kept Queenslanders safe throughout this pandemic and I have great faith in the decisions that the Chief Health Officer has taken throughout this case,” he said.

He said it did not cast doubt on the results of other cases, insisting that the Government had been open and transparent.

“Literally all of the information we have, we’ve been sharing with you each day,” he said.

“And in some cases we’ll later find out that that information was wrong.

“But I would prefer to be criticised for being too transparent, for being too honest, for reacting too quickly than the alternative which you’ve seen in other countries.”

Dr Young today said an initial post-mortem test undertaken on Mr Turner the night after he had passed away returned a positive result, but that a second test had come back “invalid”.

“I don’t believe there was anything more that could’ve been done that night,” she said.

“I had a positive test result in the context of a gentleman who had had a four-week history of a flu-like illness.”

Dr Young confirmed 605 people came forward for Blackwater for testing since last week and that all of them had come back negative.

She said it was “extremely rare” for there to be a false positive test.

“But extremely rare things happen,” she said.

“We know that in a low prevalence environment, which is where we are in Queensland … that we will get false positives. If you test enough people who are negative, you will get a false positive.

“That’s just the maths.”

New test results reveal Nathan Turner from Blackwater did not die of COVID-19.

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington said the Premier needed to take responsibility for what she described as a “significant mistake” and called on her to outline what steps she would take to give Queenslanders confidence in the testing regime.

"Queenslanders also require an adequate explanation around why the second test was ignored," she said.

Ms Frecklington claimed the Blackwater case was a “justification” from the Premier to keep the borders closed – something Ms Palaszczuk denied.

The new case is believed to be that of a woman who left Africa on May 28, travelled through several countries, and has been in quarantine since she arrived in Australia.

There are five active cases around the state, with two of those in hospital and one in intensive care.

The state’s case total is now 1059.

The initial positive result placed residents in his central Queensland town of Blackwater on high alert, but Queensland Health confirmed the negative test result on Monday night.

“The Coroner tonight advised that further tests have returned negative for COVID-19. He is yet to determine the man’s cause of death,” the state’s chief health officer Jeannette Young said in a statement on Monday.

Mr Turner, 30, had serious underlying health issues before experiencing coronavirus symptoms in the weeks before he died and was not tested while alive.

As Mr Turner had not worked for six months or left the mining town since February, authorities were unsure how he contracted the virus.

Hundreds of Blackwater locals were tested and Queensland Health even had the town’s sewage tested to try and determine the source of his COVID-19 infection.

More than 1050 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Queensland, while the state’s death toll sits at seven.

Stage two of the state government’s ‘Roadmap to Easing Restrictions’ came into effect on Monday allowing residents to travel unrestricted distances throughout the state as well as overnight stays at a place other than your own.

Queenslanders can also now gather in groups of 20 in pubs, gyms, museums, art galleries and cinemas but the borders will remain closed through June.