Coronavirus Queensland: Three new cases confirmed by Queensland Health

A Brisbane university student in quarantine with coronavirus attended Friday’s Nightclub in Brisbane multiple times at the weekend, triggering a health alert for people who attended the popular nightspot between Friday and Monday.

A student at UQ has been diagnosed with coronavirus.

A 22-YEAR-OLD man who has tested positive to the new coronavirus attended Friday’s Nightclub multiple times at the weekend, triggering a health alert for people who attended the popular nightspot at the weekend.

Queensland Health is asking anyone who attended the popular CBD nightclub between 6pm last Friday and 11pm on Monday to contact 13 HEALTH if they become unwell.

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“If they attended Friday’s nightclub when the young man was there then they should be really alert to if they get any symptoms,” Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young told a news conference.

“If they develop any symptoms suggestive of infection, respiratory-type symptoms or a fever, they should go and get themselves tested.”

A university spokeswoman confirmed the university was told by Queensland Health that the man attended its St Lucia campus last Thursday and Friday and was infectious.

He tested positive to COVID-19 after returning from Spain, Italy and France and is listed in a stable condition in the Prince Charles Hospital, where he has been placed in quarantine.

News of his nightclub attendance comes as two new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in a man and woman on the Gold Coast.

The man, 22, was one of three new Queensland coronavirus cases announced on Tuesday.

One of the other cases is the 42-year-old female partner of a 38-year-old woman with COVID-19 also tested positive and is in isolation in the Sunshine Coast University Hospital.

The younger woman had recently travelled from London through Dubai. She is also in quarantine.

Their positive tests have triggered concerns at the River School and Childcare Centre in Maleny, part of the Sunshine Coast hinterland, where the 38-yaer-old’s child attended daycare.

But The Courier-Mail understands the school and child care centre remain open on the advice of Queensland Health because the risk of transmission is low.

Meanwhile, the third new case, a 46-year-old woman from Brisbane, is listed in a stable condition in the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital with the novel virus.

She recently travelled to Austria and France.

Queensland Health said contact tracing was under way for all three new cases.

“We will notify the community if any other public health alerts are required,” the department said.

“Our contact tracing methods are tried and tested. Only those who had face-to-face contact with a confirmed case for … over 15 minutes, or those who shared an enclosed space with a confirmed case for a … period of more than two hours, are considered as a close contact.”

Of the state’s 18 cases, eight have since been cleared of the coronavirus and discharged.

Queensland’s tally of people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 stands at 18.

The latest coronavirus cases in Queensland come as Brisbane independent Catholic boys’ school Villanova College announced the “difficult” decision to postpone its international carnival.

The Villanova College International Carnival was due to be held on March 21 at Coorparoo, in Brisbane’s southeast.

But in an email to parents of students at the school, Villanova’s principal Mark Stower said that because of uncertainty around the spread of the virus, the Parents and Friends Association executive had decided it was unwise to hold an event where large numbers of people gathered.

“There is an enormous amount of food preparation and ordering that has to be completed in the coming weeks, as well as purchasing ice, drinks,” he said.

“There is no guarantee that the situation with the virus will improve dramatically, so the decision was made not to continue with the planning and organization of this event.”

Queensland students and teachers who were set to travel overseas for school trips have been grounded because of coronavirus.

Education Minister Grace Grace this afternoon announced all official state school trips had been halted, except for any scheduled to New Zealand, until further notice.

“The decision was made with the health, safety and wellbeing of students and staff in mind,” she said.

“Schools should manage the impact of this directive locally and communicate this decision to parents and caregivers as a matter of priority.”

Ms Grace said any decision to close a school or early childhood centre would not be taken lightly and would be based on advice from the Chief Health Officer.