Almost 2000 Queenslanders in quarantine face compulsory test

There are still almost 2000 Queenslanders locked away in mandatory quarantine. To be allowed back into society, they may now have to adhere to a new edict.

ALMOST 2000 Queenslanders still in mandatory quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic may have to undergo compulsory testing for the virus before being allowed back into society.

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Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said she was considering the introduction of testing at day 12 of quarantine before people could be released because of the potential for asymptomatic cases returning to the community not knowing they have the virus and possibly giving it to others.

She raised the concerns as Queensland recorded two new cases of the novel coronavirus yesterday, taking the number of known infections in the state to 1060. Both were diagnosed interstate and were not infected in Queensland.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young. Photo: Liam Kidston.

Queensland Health also announced the results of the latest round of testing on residents who may have come into contact with an infected aged care worker at the North Rockhampton Nursing Centre. All were negative.

The Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service has referred the enrolled nurse to the Crime and Corruption Commission for an alleged breach of public health orders and an external investigation has also been launched. She went to work after being tested for the virus and has been suspended, pending the outcome of the investigation.

Opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates said yesterday if the Queensland Government-run nursing home’s managers were found to be culpable then they should also be stood down.

Queensland Health suspects the nurse acquired the novel coronavirus during a trip to Brisbane on a Virgin flight on April 30 for an appointment with an orthopaedic specialist. She stayed overnight at the Punt Hill Apartments at inner-city Spring Hill and walked to the surgeon’s rooms on Wickham Terrace the next day, May 1, before flying back to Rockhampton on another Virgin flight.

The nurse tested positive to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, on May 14. Since then, about 70 staff and residents at the nursing home have been placed in 14 days’ quarantine.

North Rockhampton Nursing Centre. Photo: Levi Appleton, AAP.

They are among 1999 people still serving quarantine orders in Queensland as a result of the new virus.

Dr Young said most were Queenslanders in mandatory quarantine in hotels after flying home from overseas.

She said public health officials were becoming increasingly disturbed about the rapidly growing number of people infected with the virus worldwide, with known infections surpassing 5,300,000, including more than 340,000 deaths.

“We are seeing more and more cases around the world, which means that we expect to see more in quarantine in Queensland,” Dr Young said.

“Those people who are in that mandatory hotel quarantine, we expect to see more of them being positive. We really want to start testing everyone before they leave quarantine. Early on, we didn’t have the testing capacity to do that, whereas now we do.”

Testing under existing protocols is mainly focused on Queenslanders with symptoms of COVID-19, such as a cough, sore throat or a fever, but under Dr Young’s new plans, well people in quarantine would be tested before being released.

This follows the case of a 70-year-old woman who spent 14 days in mandatory quarantine after returning to Brisbane from India, via Singapore, in March. She tested positive last week after developing mild symptoms and is suspected to have acquired the virus while in India.

If compulsory testing of Queenslanders late into their quarantine had been introduced earlier, her case may have been picked up then.