Covid Sunshine Coast: Mask wearing extended as Queensland records one new overseas case

Mask wearing will remain in place for the Sunshine Coast and Noosa areas for another seven days as Queensland records one new case of Covid-19 which was overseas acquired.

No new local cases of Covid-19 were recorded in Queensland in the past 24 hours but masks will remain in place.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said there was one new case acquired overseas and detected in hotel quarantine.

It comes after a new case of community transmission was recorded on Wednesday, a man who received a positive result at a Brisbane backpackers after being turned away at the WA border.

Ms D’Ath said the genomic sequencing had revealed the backpacker was a direct link to other cases that were on board the same plane as him.

Thursday 29 July – coronavirus cases in Queensland:

0 new locally acquired cases.

1 new overseas acquired case, detected in hotel quarantine.#covid19pic.twitter.com/0m4AGezus3

— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) July 29, 2021

Those cases stayed in other hotels, which meant he did not acquire the virus in hotel quarantine.

“Those other three travellers were sent to a different hotel quarantine, which confirms for us this gentleman has contracted it from one of the other travellers while either on the plane or in transit,” she said.

Ms D’Ath confirmed the man had the Alpha variant.

Mask restrictions were extended for a further seven days in the southeast, including on the Sunshine Coast, after they were due to come off on Friday.

Chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young speaks during a press conference to provide a Covid update at Parliament House in Brisbane. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dan Peled

Ms D’Ath said mask wearing was important and helped lessen the chance of virus transmission in the community.

“We have been able to contain all of these outbreaks to very small numbers and that’s in no small part due to all the restrictions in place, including mask wearing and people staying at home while they’re unwell,” she said.

Chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said police would be out and about to enforce the mask mandate.

She said Queensland recording no new local cases was good news.

The state currently has 42 active cases and more than 25,000 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours.

More to come.