Queensland Health issues coronavirus alert for southern Brisbane

Queensland Health has warned specific passengers who travelled on a flight from Brisbane to Sydney on Monday alongside a woman who has since tested positive to COVID-19 are now deemed “close contacts”.

A public health alert has been issued for a southside Brisbane suburb after a woman tested positive for COVID-19 after dining at a cafe and catching a domestic flight.

Japanese health authorities advised on Wednesday that a woman had tested positive to the virus after returning to Japan from Brisbane via Sydney.

Queensland Health have issued a coronavirus public health alert for Virgin flight VA962 from Brisbane to Sydney on Monday, August 17.

In a statement, Queensland Health said that people who travelled in rows 25 to 29 on the flight were deemed to be “close contacts” of the woman.

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A woman who dined at The Jam Pantry in Greenslopes has tested positive for COVID-19. Picture: Steve Pohlner

The alert has also been issued for The Jam Pantry cafe in Greenslopes, after she visited on Sunday, August 16.

The state’s Chief Health Officer Jeanette Young said contact tracing was under way and appropriate action had been taken at the relevant locations.

Dr Young said the woman had skipped quarantine in Brisbane because she had completed 14 days in isolation in Sydney.

The woman flew into Brisbane from Sydney on a Virgin flight. Picture: James Gourley

“Because she quarantined in Sydney and travelled straight to Brisbane from hotel quarantine, she could go about her normal life in Brisbane,” she said.

“However, on her arrival to Japan on 18 August, she was asymptomatic but returned a positive COVID-19 result.”

She said she was working with New South Wales Health to contact people from the flight and asked that all passengers monitor their health and come forward for testing if they have any symptoms.

The Public Health Unit would now contact anyone who attended The Jam Pantry between 9.45am and 11am on Sunday.

“We have been in touch with six close contacts in Brisbane identified by the woman. These people have been tested and are now in quarantine,” Dr Young said.

“While we are still determining where the virus may have been acquired, we are working with Japanese authorities to gather necessary information.”