Queensland records three new cases of Covid-19 community transmission

Queensland has recorded three new cases of community transmission linked to the flight attendant who tested positive after dining at a Brisbane restaurant this week.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles has announced there are three new COVID cases linked to a flight attendant who tested positive in the community on Sunday after leaving hotel quarantine.

There has also been another case detected in hotel quarantine, taking the state’s active cases to 39.

One of the cases is the 62-year-old president of the Brisbane Portuguese Family Centre, who confirmed this morning he had tested positive for Covid-19 and was being treated in hospital.

Chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said the other two community cases were travelling with the flight attendant when she was out and about in Brisbane on the weekend.

It is thought that flight attendant was infected by a fully vaccinated quarantine worker.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young. Picture: John Gass

Dr Young said she was not concerned that any of the cases were a risk to the Queensland community because they have all been in quarantine since the first case emerged.

Dr Young said while the NSW outbreak remained restricted to Greater Sydney, she warned that health officials did not know what was going to happen going forward.

“This could rapidly escalate,” Dr Young said.

She strongly recommended anyone in Queensland to avoid any travel to NSW, saying they could expose themselves to the virus.

Dr Young said anyone who has been to Sydney and arrived in Queensland before 1am this morning needs to let health officials know as soon as possible.

She said it was far too soon to know how long the border will be shut to Greater Sydney.

Dr Young said there was a chance that the whole state could be shut-out of Queensland, which was why she was urging Queenslanders to avoid travel to NSW.

She said anyone who was in the CBD on Saturday between 5-6pm last Saturday at the same time as the female flight crew member should get tested and isolate if they developed any symptoms at all.

A second person who attended the Brisbane Portuguese Family Centre in Ellen Grove has tested positive to Covid-19. Picture: Richard Walker

Dr Young said now was “not the time to go down into New South Wales” amid fears Sydneysiders could ignore health advice and flee.

“People in Greater Sydney could leave and go to regional New South Wales,” she said.

“It is really important people take that into consideration if they’re making any plans to go down to New South Wales.

“This could rapidly escalate.”

Dr Young said people who had arrived in Queensland before from NSW or the ACT must look at the exposure venue list and isolate if they have been to one.

Thursday 24 June – coronavirus cases in Queensland:

Three locally acquired and detected in quarantine, one overseas acquired and detected in hotel quarantine. #covid19pic.twitter.com/j2SVoge3hi

— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) June 24, 2021

People who arrived before 1am who have not been to an exposure venue will not be forced to quarantine - but anyone who has symptoms should get tested.

Dr Young said Queensland’s Covid-19 situation was under control, with all attendees of the Portuguese Community Centre in quarantine and little concern around the CBD and DFO exposure sites.

“That time of risk has now passed,” she said.

Mr Miles said Queensland officials remained very concerned about the ongoing outbreak in Sydney, with fleeting contacts of 10 seconds leading to transmissions.

He said the outbreak could test the systems Australia had introduced to stem the virus.

He called on NSW residents from declared hotspots who wanted to come to Queensland “please don’t”.

Mr Miles said the risk was as high as it has been throughout the pandemic.

“It is highly, highly infectious,” he said

“You only have to be in the same breathing space as someone with this variant to contract it.”

This outbreak really could test all of our systems - it is incredibly important we get this right.”

Queensland has asked the airlines to provide alerts on people coming into Brisbane from Sydney.

Queensland administered 13,985 vaccinations on Wednesday, taking the total to 477,000.

Queenslanders who have been in any of the newly declared hotspots will have to go into hotel quarantine when they return.

Police have been meeting flights at Queensland airports this morning, turning people around.

For example, in the first flight from Sydney since the restrictions began, 20 people were returned to Sydney.

About 20 to 25 per cent of holiday bookings on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast are at risk of being cancelled ahead of the school holidays.

Mr Miles urged Queenslanders to make bookings to help the local economy.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles has announced three new cases of community transmission in Queensland. Picture: John Gass

It is understood the 62-year-old man who tested positive overnight had developed symptoms on Wednesday and was admitted to Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital overnight suffering aches and pains.

He is the second person to test positive after attending the restaurant at the same time as a flight attendant who on Sunday was confirmed to have Covid-19.

The 62-year-old man, who is president of the Brisbane Portuguese Family Centre, confirmed this morning he had tested positive for Covid-19 and was being treated in hospital.

It is understood the man developed symptoms on Wednesday and was admitted to Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital overnight suffering aches and pains.

He is the second person to test positive after attending the restaurant at the same time as a flight attendant who on Sunday was confirmed to have Covid-19.

The new case comes as Queensland slams its borders closed to more than six million people from NSW due to a growing cluster of the highly contagious Delta Covid-19 variant.

A fearful Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young on Wednesday night declared Greater Sydney, the NSW Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Wollongong and Shellharbour as hotspots, citing the emergence of 16 new cases south of the border.

“The sharp rise of cases in Sydney ... is extremely concerning due to many of these cases being infected by fleeting contact,” Dr Young said.