Revealed: How Brisbane cluster is linked to overseas travellers

The State’s Chief Health Officer has mapped out how she believes the Delta strain spread in southeast Queensland, leading to a three-day snap lockdown.

The Chief Health Officer has mapped out how she believes the Delta strain spread throughout southeast Queensland, leading to today’s snap three-day lockdown.

Dr Jeanette Young revealed this morning that seven people who tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday are part of a cluster that stemmed from two overseas travellers who arrived in Brisbane on June 29.

Dr Young said she still “doesn’t know the direct link” but genome sequencing had confirmed the transmission had occurred from one of these two cases.

She explained how one of the travellers had come from the UK, and the other had flown from Indonesia, but both ended up on the same flight from Singapore to Brisbane.

The two travellers were taken to hotel quarantine at Rydges, where they later tested positive. Picture: Richard Walker

Once they arrived they were taken to Rydges for quarantine where they later tested positive for the virus.

One man went to Sunshine Coast University Hospital and after treatment, went home to Buderim.

The other went to Gold Coast University Hospital and was given the green light to return home to Western Australia after treatment.

“I still don’t have the direct link from one of those two cases through to these new seven cases, but I know through whole genome sequencing that that is where the transmission has occurred,” Dr Young said.

Dr Young said the most likely scenario was that an unknown person connected to the travellers had somehow infected the medical student, who was the index case for the latest cluster.

The medical student tutored the 17-year-old Indooroopilly High School student who tested positive yesterday along with four members of her family.

People queue for Covid testing at Indooroopilly State High School. Picture: Annette Dew

“I suspect that that medical student is the index case and has taken it into that household and spread it into that household,” Dr Young said.

“Then we have the child, the youngest child in that family attends Ironside school and one of the teachers there is already positive.”

All students and staff who attended Ironside State School and Indooroopilly State High School are now in 14 day quarantine.

Dr Young said officials were rapidly contact tracing the medical student’s whereabouts in recent days, saying she had been to a lot of places.

She said that included the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, the University of Queensland and the Translational Research Institute at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

“And also she has a sibling who works in a hospital,” Dr Young said.

Dr Young said because the link between the June 29 cases and this cluster was still unknown she urged people to restrict their movements.

“At the moment I don’t know where this virus is in southeast Queensland, it could be anywhere,” she said.

“If I can keep the people in a restricted area, I can keep the virus in a restricted area.”

How the latest cluster of Delta strain unfolded in SEQ

- Two travellers on a plane from Singapore arrive in Brisbane on June 29

- The travellers are placed in hotel quarantine and later test positive for Covid-19

- One is taken to Gold Coast University Hospital then flies home to WA after treatment

- The second is taken to Sunshine Coast University Hospital before returning to Buderim

- A UQ medical student who likely contracted the virus from someone who was in contact with the travellers test positive on July 30

- She is believed to have given it to a 17-year-old Indooroopilly High School student who she tutored

- Four members of the student’s family who live in Taringa test positive

- The youngest member of the family attends Ironside State School and a teacher at the school also tests positive for the virus