Western Australia issues public health alert over Covid-positive man sent back to Queensland
A Queeensland man who tested positive while staying at a Brisbane backpackers may have infected a FIFO worker during an ill-fated trip to Western Australia.
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Western Australia has issued a fresh public health alert over a Covid-positive man it sent back to Queensland last month after a FIFO worker was infected while at Perth Airport.
WA Health suspect the worker caught Covid from the Queensland case after the two came into contact.
It is the second time the FIFO worker has had Covid, after also testing positive in March.
Western Australian last month refused entry to a man who travelled from Queensland after he arrived back in Australia from the Philippines, via Papua New Guinea.
He quarantined in Brisbane and tested negative for Covid and flew to Perth, but was denied entry and placed on a return flight to Queensland.
He was later diagnosed with Covid after checking into the City Backpackers in Brisbane’s CBD, sparking an urgent lockdown of the hostel and contact tracing emergency.
WA Health has now issued a fresh alert after a Pilbara mine worker aged in his 30s, tested ‘weak positive’ for Covid-19.
“This case is unusual in that the person was a confirmed case in March 2020 after returning from overseas,” WA Health said in a statement.
“The man was at the Perth Airport on Tuesday 20 July 2021 between 4.00am – 7.00am, when a case confirmed positive in Queensland transited through the Perth Airport and was subsequently returned to Queensland.
“WA Health has upgraded its advice for those who visited Perth Airport Terminal 4 (Qantas domestic terminal) between 4am and 7am on the 20 July 2021 and has included additional exposure sites.”
The man’s close contacts are in isolation, with two testing negative and tests for the others underway.
WA Premier Mark McGowan last week defended sending the man back to Queensland, saying the west was “one of the freest, most successful, happiest places in the world” and was doing all it could to keep the virus out.
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