Queensland could reopen border to Victoria, SA on Wednesday

As health officials work to find out how a Gold Coast man contracted Covid-19 nearly two weeks after leaving hotel quarantine, a Queensland mayor has blasted the ‘arrogance’ of people who refuse to wear a mask.

Queensland could reopen its borders to Victoria and South Australia as early as Wednesday as the lockdowns in the southern states are lifted.

It comes as Queensland Health officials scour hotel security footage in a bid to solve the mystery of how a Gold Coast man came down with Covid nearly two weeks after leaving quarantine.

Queensland has been off-limits to Victorians and South Australians since the two states were declared hot spots on July 17 and July 22 respectively after a surge in Covid cases.

But the lockdowns in the two states were due to end at midnight on Tuesday after no new cases were recorded in SA. Victoria had 10 cases, but all in quarantine.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Sources say Queensland could follow the Northern Territory’s lead in revoking the hotspot status for Victoria and South Australia.

NSW, which recorded 172 cases on Tuesday, is expected to stay shut to Queensland for at least a month.

Queensland recorded no new Covid cases on Tuesday but authorities were scrambling to determine how the Coast man contracted the virus.

Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said the genome sequence results from the man who travelled from China was identical with a traveller who returned from South Africa via Doha. He is now the seventh person in that cluster.

The man was on the same floor across the hall from the other members of the cluster.

Dr Young said authorities were looking at CCTV footage from the hotel to see if the rooms occupied by positive cases, located across the hall from each other, were opened around the same time.

More than 2000 people have been placed into quarantine as a result of the Coast man’s case and those of a Brisbane flight attendant who picked up a Covid-positive friend from Ballina Airport and drove him to Queensland after he illegally left lockdown in Sydney.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has slammed the "arrogance" of people not wearing masks while out and about

Meanwhile, Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has blasted the ‘arrogance’ of dozens of people who were photographed by The Courier-Mail not wearing masks at busy beachside suburb Burleigh Heads on Tuesday.

“I’ve got one word: arrogance,” he said.

“What disappoints me is the complete disregard for their own health, their family’s health and (that of) the wider community.

“Virtually everyone on the Coast would know someone who owns a small business. By showing this complete disregard to mask orders is a slap in the face to their business friends too.

“Sure, masks may be uncomfortable but not as inconvenient as a citywide lockdown or watching your business friend or colleague go bankrupt.”