Ballina Covid case: Health authorities have revealed how infected man travelled from Ballina airport to Queensland

NSW Health has said the man travelled to the North Coast while he was meant to be in isolation after he was identified as a workplace contact in Sydney.

Update 3pm:

An airline employee who has since tested positive for Covid-19 transported an infected man from the Ballina Byron Gateway Airport, it has been revealed.

Queensland deputy premier Steven Miles said a Qantas flight attendant, who Queensland health authorities reported as a positive case on Friday, drove a man who was infectious from Ballina on July 14.

He said the infected man was now in Queensland but was recorded in New South Wales statistics.

Mr Miles said it is believed the flight attendant caught the virus from the man after he left Sydney.

“(The man was) tested on July 12 because they were a close contact,” Mr Miles said.

“The details of what happened from then are a bit complicated.”

Mr Miles echoed NSW authorities by saying the man should have been in isolation from that time.

This is notwithstanding the fact Sydney remains in lockdown.

“It does appear though there was a lab error in their initial results,” Mr Miles said.

This result returned a negative result for the man and, although he was meant to remain in isolation, he flew to Ballina on July 14 on Virgin flight VA1139.

“They were then collected from Ballina airport by the flight attendant that we reported positive in Queensland on Friday,” Mr Miles said.

“She picked up that passenger from Ballina airport and drove him back to Queensland.

“So it does appear that the flight attended we reported on Friday caught Covid from the passenger on this flight to Ballina.

“Both these positive cases have been active in and around Brisbane and the Gold Coast.”

Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said the Ballina traveller was considered the “index case” for the flight attendant’s infection.
She said given what authorities now understood about the flight attendant’s exposure to Covid-19, six regional crews prior to July 14 were no longer considered a concern.

But she urged anyone with any symptoms to get tested, especially as there is limited information about where those two positive cases had been in Queensland.

“It’s clear that those two people now have been out and about in Brisbane and the Gold Coast since July 14,” Dr Young said.

“It is cricital you come forward. I’m not actually sure where those indivudals have been while they’ve been in their infectious period.”

Queensland’s known exposure sites can be found here.

The Ballina flight has now been listed among NSW’s exposures; anyone who travelled on that flight is a close contact and must get tested and self-isolate for 14 days regardless of the result, and call 1800 943 553 unless they have already been contacted by NSW Health.

A Virgin flight from Sydney to Ballina has been identified has having been exposed to a positive case of Covid-19. Picture: EdithRum/iStock

Update 11.15am:

A positive Covid-19 case who travelled from Sydney to Ballina on July 14 lied to authorities about whether he had been isolating.

Addressing the media on Sunday morning, Dr Jeremy McAnulty said the man travelled on Virgin flight VA1139, which arrived in Ballina about 11.45am on Wednesday, July 14.

Anyone else who was on that flight is a close contact and must immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days regardless of the result, he said.

“He was tested on July 12 following identification of a workplace contact,” Dr McAnulty said.

He said the man initially received a test result from a private lab which returned a false negative.
He was required to isolate for 14 days regardless of the result of that test.
But he flew to Ballina on July 14 before travelling into Queensland, Dr McAnulty said.

Dr McAnulty said authorities were advised the man’s swab was positive on July 20.

He said NSW Health “immediately contacted and interviewed” the man.

“He stated he had been isolating since the 10th of July however we know this is not true,” he said.

“We’re working with our colleagues in Queensland Health and have referred the matter to NSW Police.”

NSW Police issued 510 penalty infringement notices in the past 24 hours.

In the 24 hours to 8pm Saturday, the state recorded 141 new cases of Covid-19, all of the locally acquired.

Two more people, including a woman in her 70s and a woman in her 30s with no pre-existing conditions, have died from the virus, according to authorities.

Original report, 6.55am:

NSW Health has issued a public health alert for a July 14 Virgin flight from Sydney to Ballina.

They have said in a statement they were notified overnight of a positive Covid-19 case was on board Virgin flight VA1139, which arrived in Ballina at 11.45am on Wednesday, July 14.

“Anybody who was on this flight is a close contact and must get tested and isolate for 14 days from the date of exposure, regardless of the result of the test,” NSW Health said.

“Please call 1800 943 553 unless you have already been contacted by NSW Health.”

NSW Health has also issued health alerts for locations and public transport networks in the Greater Sydney area:

⚠️PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT⚠️ NSW Health has been notified tonight of a case who travelled on a flight from Sydney to Ballina...

Posted by NSW Health on Saturday, July 24, 2021