New twist in Cairns Covid scare as Toowoomba Hospital shuts out visitors

Queensland is currently battling two Covid scares on opposite ends of the state, with new details revealing a Cairns woman may have been infectious before flying to Darwin.

A Cairns woman has been declared as the source of the Northern Territory’s Covid-19 cluster in a new twist that means she may have been infectious while in Queensland.

The shock revelation is one of two Covid scares at opposite ends of the state, with authorities currently investigating if Toowoomba Hospital has been exposed to Covid-19 as a result of the recent Goondiwindi cluster.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the source of the Top End’s outbreak is as a 21-year-old woman who flew from Cairns to Darwin on October 29.

Mr Gunner revealed the woman was fined $5024 after allegedly lying on her border entry form.

Cairns Airport. Picture: Brendan Radke

“We now know that before arriving in Darwin, she spent time in Melbourne, which is almost certainly where she contracted the virus,” he said.

Five hours of interviews with detectives found she had flown from Cairns to Adelaide before driving to Melbourne on October 21. She spent four days in Victoria.

She drove back to Adelaide on October 25, flew back to Cairns and then to Darwin on October 29.

A number of exposure sites in Cairns were listed today, including the domestic airport, Cairns Central Shopping Centre and Woolworths at nearby Mission Beach.

The woman was identified as a close contact of a 26-year-old man who sparked the NT’s current Covid scare on Friday.

She tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday evening. Prior, the woman had received one dose of a Covid vaccine.

Mr Gunner said given the woman and the first case detected were known to one another, it did not classify as community transmission.

He further urged anyone travelling to the Territory to be truthful with authorities.

“These actions have put the Territory at risk. They forced Katherine into lockdown and forced Katherine businesses to shut,’ he said.

“While there were compassionate reasons for her decision to visit Victoria, there were not compassionate reasons for lying to the Territory and coming here from a hotspot. She’s been issued a $5024 fine and she’ll also pay for a $2500 stay at Howard Springs.”

Just yesterday, Queensland Health said it had been in close contact with its Northern Territory counterparts and the Cairns woman was not believed be infectious while in Queensland, and was not believed to be the source of the outbreak.

A Queensland Health spokeswoman confirmed that the Cairns woman was infectious in the community and is the source of the latest exposure sites in both Cairns and Mission Beach.

“When the woman was initially interviewed by Queensland Health and the Northern Territory Health she provided incorrect background information which initially determined she had not been infectious in the community,” the spokeswoman said.

“Health authorities later discovered after the press conference on Sunday morning and after further investigation that the woman had been infectious in the community and had consequently lied when she was questioned on Saturday.”

Meanwhile, Toowoomba Hospital shut its doors to visitors on Sunday afternoon over a “public health concern” related to potential exposure to Covid-19.

But late Sunday afternoon officials insisted, via social media, the hospital was not in a “lockdown.”

A Darling Downs Health spokesperson confirmed their public health unit is investigating a possible exposure of COVID-19 at the Toowoomba Hospital linked to the recent Goondiwindi cases.

“In order to do this, we are restricting some visitors to the hospital at this time.”

Earlier today, Darling Downs Health issued a statement saying they were responding to a “concern”.

“This means effective immediately we need to keep visitors to a minimum to ensure the safety of our staff, patients and visitors,” the statement said.

“We ask all maternity and end of life care visitors to please speak to your treating team prior to your arrival at the hospital.

“In some instances, support people can be accommodated on compassionate grounds, in the emergency department, maternity and paediatric services.”

Toowoomba Hospital. Picture: David Clark

Darling Downs Health has confirmed there are no new cases of Covid-19 in Toowoomba and the Darling Downs at this time, and no contact tracing alerts have been issued.

In response to comments on their Facebook page, officials from the department later wrote they wanted to be “super clear” the hospital was not in lockdown.

“We are just asking people to check in with treating teams if they are coming to visit someone,” a staff member wrote.

“We are asking visitors to be kept to a minimum, however our hospital is accessible especially in an emergency.”

Darling Downs Health updated their Facebook post at 5:13pm on Sunday after previously responding to comments stating the public health alert was not in relation to Covid.

“We don’t have any contact tracing alerts in Toowoomba and we don’t have any COVID-19 cases in Toowoomba either.

“...At the moment we have no contact tracing alerts or confirmed cases in Toowoomba for COVID-19,” responses read.