Logan man in isolation in Princess Alexandra Hospital after testing positive coronavirus

Queensland Health is contacting passengers who sat near a 26-year-old man on a flight into Brisbane from Dubai before he was confirmed as the state’s newest case of coronavirus.

QUEENSLAND Health was last night contacting passengers who sat near the state’s latest case of the new coronavirus on a flight into Brisbane from Dubai, telling them to go into home quarantine.

A 26-year-old man who flew into Brisbane from Dubai on February 26, is listed as stable in the Princess Alexandra Hospital after testing positive to COVID-19 as the state’s health authorities scramble to contain the virus for as long as possible.

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He had earlier travelled from Tehran to Dubai and fell ill before catching the flight from the Iranian capital.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said passengers sitting two rows forward, two rows back and two seats either side of the man would be contacted and told to isolate themselves for a week.

That marks 14 days since their last contact with the man, who lives in Logan, south of Brisbane.

The man is the 11th case of the novel coronavirus in Queensland.

Other than passengers he sat near during flights from Tehran, Dr Young said public health experts had identified nine other people he had significant contact with on his return to Queensland, mostly at home in Logan.

“We’re working through with all of those people what their contact has been and whether they also need to go into home quarantine,” Dr Young said.

“Contact that concerns us is close contact of more than 15 minutes. That’s normally the sort of contact between a couple, between parents and children, really close contact.

“Or, it’s contact in a confined space for more than two hours. The normal process is we ask close contacts to go into home quarantine for 14 days from when they last had contact.”

The man is the second Queensland case of COVID-19 believed to have acquired the virus in Iran.

Queensland now has 11 confirmed cases of coronavirus with a 26-year-old man from Logan diagnosed today. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

A 63-year-old woman remains in the Gold Coast University Hospital after returning from Iran last week.

The increasing number of cases arriving from Iran who have tested positive for the coronavirus has prompted the Federal Government to change its advice to travellers returning from the West Asian country.

Dr Young said people who had flown in from Iran since February 19 were being asked to go into home quarantine for 14 days.

Meanwhile, tests last night on the housemate of a Chinese University of Queensland student confirmed as having COVID-19 this week, came back negative.

Health authorities feared the housemate, a fellow UQ student, was Queensland’s first known locally-acquired case of COVID-19 after he fell ill with symptoms consistent with the new virus.

But the latest tests have ruled out COVID-19.

The man shared a house with the infected Chinese student in the Brisbane suburb of Toowong. He will be allowed to return home after being kept in isolation in the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, but will self-isolate for 14 days as a precaution.

The 20-year-old Chinese case fell ill on February 25, two days after flying into Brisbane from Dubai, where he spent 14 days.

Public health experts believe the man acquired COVID-19 while in the Middle East, although Dr Young said he “wasn’t freely wandering around” while he was there.

He is not believed to have attended any UQ campuses on his return to Brisbane.

The young student went to the Mater Hospital’s emergency department on Monday, where swabs were taken.

He was sent home but when the swabs came back as positive for the novel coronavirus, an ambulance was called and he was taken to the RBWH, which has a highly regarded infection diseases unit, including negative pressure rooms.

The case has prompted the Metro North Hospital and Health Service executive director of medical services Liz Rushbrook to write to thousands of health workers urging them to brush up on infection control guidelines.

She said the admission of the patient to RBWH, Queensland’s largest hospital, was “not cause for alarm”.

“As healthcare providers, we are trained to manage these situations and have the experience and knowledge to do it in a calm and professional manner,” Dr Rushbrook wrote in an email.

“I commend you to refamiliarize yourself with our triage flowcharts, guide to infection control and guide to correct use of PPE (personal protective equipment).

“Please continue to wash your hands properly and frequently and remember your cough and sneeze etiquette.”

Dr Rushbrook said planning was underway across Metro North HHS to prepare staff for the “rapidly developing COVID-19 situation”.

“You will see rapid ‘sprints’ in this planning over the coming days such as maturing our preparations for surge assessment clinics,” she said.

Health workers have been particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 in China, the epicentre of the disease.

In Sydney, a doctor, 53, and an aged care worker, also in her 50s, are among the three known locally acquired cases in Australia.

The World Health Organisation has reported more than 93,000 cases of COVID-19 and at least 3200 deaths since the new virus emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December.

For more information, call 13 HEALTH.

Originally published as Logan man in isolation in Princess Alexandra Hospital after testing positive coronavirus