Karinya Place worker tests positive to coronavirus
A staff member at an aged care home just west of Brisbane is one of two new cases of COVID-19 in Queensland in the past 24 hours. It comes as sewage testing has exposed a potentially hidden cluster in Airlie Beach. WATCH LIVE
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An aged care home at Laidley, just west of Brisbane, has been rocked by a confirmed case of coronavirus, with staff and residents to undergo testing today.
A staff member at Karinya Place was diagnosed with COVID-19 yesterday, the facility’s owner Carinity confirmed in a statement.
Health Minister Steven Miles has this morning revealed there have been two new cases in the past 24 hours – a man and woman both aged in their 30s believed to be linked to the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre and Queensland Correctional Services Academy cluster.
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Mr Miles said a sewage surveillance program had suggested there may have been cases of the virus in the Airlie Beach region, prompting the government to set up a fever clinic there.
He said the new cases take the number of active cases in the state to 30.
Mr Miles said the latest cases took the number of infections in the state since the pandemic began to 1128.
He said more than 14,000 samples were tested for the virus in the past 24 hours.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young thanked the community for following social distancing and COVID health directions which had helped prevent the southeast Queensland cluster from spreading.
‘We are starting to see two weeks into this cluster that we’ve got control. It is too early to say we’ve solved it, we’ve still got a long, long way to go,” she said.
Dr Young said because of precautions that were put in place as a result of the cluster, such as use of personal protective equipment, the risk for further transmission within the nursing home at Laidley was low.
The Karinya Place staffer did not work while experiencing symptoms and is now in quarantine. She did not have direct contact with any of the residents at the nursing home.
One resident and several staff members have been tested and have self-isolated. Others will be tested today.
“Staff have been adhering to strict hygiene protocols and social distancing measures since March and have been well trained in the use of PPE [personal protective equipment],” a Carinity spokesman said.
“We are also providing regular updates to residents, their families and our staff and will do so until we have confirmation that Karinya Place is clear of the virus.”
It is the first case of locally acquired COVID-19 in the Lockyer Valley region.
Meanwhile Dr Young called on people to delay their hugs for Father’s Day if they did not live in the same household as their Dad.
“Now’s not the time to give them a hug,” she said.
Dr Young said as the number of cases increased in Queensland’s southeast, it was important that people continued to limit gatherings to 10 people.