Sippy Downs apartment block deep cleaned, residents advised to test after Covid-19 scare

Residents of a Sunshine Coast apartment block have received a letter urging them to get tested after a positive Covid-19 case linked to the Brisbane delta cluster visited the complex.

Top left: Two women leave The York and Hudson Residences at 10-12 High Street without masks. Right: A police car drives past the 12 High Street unit complex which has faced a Covid-19 scare.

A Sunshine Coast unit complex has reportedly undergone three rounds of deep-cleaning and residents have been urged to get tested after a confirmed Covid-19 positive case visited the site.

It is understood the case from Brisbane, linked to a delta cluster which has sent much of the state into a lockdown, had visited a resident at the The Hudson Residences on 12 High St, Sippy Downs, while infectious.

Habitat Property Management Group general manager Ashley Halsey who looks after the building said the block was not locked down and residents were not in forced isolation.

However, a letter distributed to the building’s residents from the Sunshine Coast Public Health Unit and dated August 2 urged all residents to get tested at their nearest drive through site as soon as possible.

A police car passes the 12 High Street unit complex which has been caught up in a Covid-19 scare.

The letter also advised any resident who had used the building’s elevator between 1pm and 4pm on Saturday, July 31 and 4.50pm and 6pm on Sunday, August 1 to test, isolate and contact the Sunshine Coast Public Health Unit.

On site building manager Steele Clarke told the Daily the complex had undergone deep cleaning on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Mr Clarke said to his knowledge most residents of The Hudson had been tested and several had already returned negative results.

A Queensland Health spokeswoman said residents of the building who were identified as close contacts were required to isolate for 14 days.

“The building’s management was notified on August 2,” she said.

“Management was provided a letter to circulate to tenants that day.

“This was deemed the fastest approach to contact all tenants because we did not have any contact details of residents in the apartment block.

“Those identified as close contacts are required to quarantine for 14 days.

“The remaining residents are casual contacts who have been requested to get tested.

“The exposure is considered low risk.”

The apartment complex has not been released on the state government’s list of exposure sites as it was understood the public health unit had contacted everyone in the block.

The unit complex is close to the University of the Sunshine Coast, Coles Sippy Downs and Siena Catholic College.

Many young families, students and young workers live in the modern units.

The Southeast Queensland delta cluster swelled to 63 positive cases after 16 new cases were recorded on Wednesday.

The Sunshine Coast’s cases jumped from five to seven on Tuesday, but health sources indicated the two fresh cases were due to hospital transfers, as no community transmissions had been detected locally.

Students and staff at several elite private schools were ordered to test for Covid-19 on Tuesday.

Parents, students and teachers from Sunshine Coast private schools have been thanked after they spent hours waiting to get tested for Covid-19 this week.

Teachers and students at Immanuel Lutheran College, Sunshine Coast Grammar and Matthew Flinders Anglican College were told to get tested for Covid-19 as Queensland Health worked to find a missing link in the state’s Indooroopilly outbreak.

Chief health officer Jeannette Young said on Sunday the Covid-19 outbreak in Brisbane “likely” jumped from a man who was treated with the highly-infectious delta strain at Sunshine Coast University Hospital.