Covid Qld: Qld cluster linked to one of three ‘essential workers’ from NSW

Five new exposure sites have been added for the Qld cluster which authorities earlier confirmed was linked to a man from NSW who came to Queensland for ‘essential work’.

Five new exposure sites have been added to Queensland’s growing list including the sports fields at a Catholic college and a popular shopping centre.

Queensland Health has advised the Clairvaux MacKillop College sporting fields are a low risk contact site for those who attended on Thursday between 3.45pm and 5.15pm.

The KFC and food court at Westfield Garden City from 5.20pm to 6.05pm on Thursday have been deemed close contact sites.

Full list:

Thursday 9 September 2021

3.45pm – 5.15pm: Clairvaux MacKillop College, Sports Fields. Klumpp Road, Upper Mount Gravatt – low risk contact

5.20pm – 6.05pm: KFC, Food Court, Level 2, Westfield Garden City – Close contact

5.20pm – 6.05pm: Food Court, Level 2 (Sit down dining), Westfield Garden City – close contact

5.20pm – 6.05pm: Food Court, Level 2 (other than sit down dining) Westfield Garden City – casual contact

5.20pm – 6.20pm: Westfield Garden City Shopping Centre – low risk contact

Westfield Garden City stores are included in the latest exposure sites. Image/Richard Gosling

It comes after authorities confirmed that a Brisbane family at the centre of Queensland’s latest Covid outbreak caught the virus from one of three men from NSW, allowed into the state for ‘essential work’.

Speaking at a press conference on Sunday morning, chief health officer Jeannette Young said she was certain a family of five in South Brisbane contracted the virus from one of three NSW men who entered Queensland for essential work.

“(A gentleman) crossed the border from NSW into Queensland, and then … went and stayed with this family who’ve since tested positive,” Dr Young said.

“We did get confirmation yesterday that two of those three have tested positive, so I’m now confident that’s where the virus came into Queensland to infect those five people, but those two people had minimal exposure in Queensland.

“They had not been around and about so that is good news.”

One of the men has tested negative and is in quarantine with his family.

The other man has returned to NSW.

chief health officer Jeannette Young yesterday. Picture: Annette Dew

The latest Covid-19 scare had authorities holding their breath in anticipation of a widespread outbreak but on Sunday there was a “sigh of relief” when the state recorded zero new cases.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk resisted plunging the southeast into a snap lockdown yesterday, but warned residents to remain vigilant, with the next 24 hours being critical.

Thousands of close contacts linked to the family in the latest St Thomas More College and Griffith University cluster have been sent into quarantine for 14 days.

“We’ll be looking to see if there’s any seeding happening outside of those people who are in home quarantine … then we may have to take very quick, fast action,” Ms Palaszczuk (pictured) said.

“The next 24 to 48 hours, Queensland, is critical – especially in the South East.

“This is the time we need everyone to step up.”

Dr Young said people living south of the Brisbane River and in the Logan City Council area should be especially vigilant for the “slightest hint” of Covid-19 symptoms.

“The risk is of course that we have someone out there who is infected who goes and starts a cluster – that’s what I want to pick up as early as I possibly can,” she said.

“They’re the things that people can do so that we don’t need to go in a lockdown.”

People having visitors to their homes this weekend have also been asked to keep a list of guests to assist with contact tracing if a Delta outbreak occurs.

Cars queue outside St Thomas More College at Sunnybank on Friday. Picture: Sarah Marshall/NCA NewsWire

Three children, including a 13-year-old St Thomas More College student, and a mother and father living in different households were identified as the five community cases on Saturday.

Ms Palaszczuk praised the quick-thinking actions of the student’s mother, who took her daughter for testing after she complained of a mild headache.

“To identify this so early has been a godsend,” she said.

Despite the five new cases, Dr Young said she remained comfortable that the outbreak was contained.

“Because we’ve got this so early, we’ve got it in the first generation of cases we’ve been able to bring all this together and manage it,” she said.

“I just need everyone now – particularly in that Mt Gravatt, northern Logan and southern Brisbane area – if you have any symptoms whatsoever you go and immediately get tested.

“For everyone else, go and get vaccinated.”

Aged care facilities, hospitals disability care services and prisons in the Logan City Council and southern Brisbane City Council areas will limit visitors except for those in end-of-life care.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk yesterday. Picture: Annette Dew

“We don’t quite have enough of all of those sectors fully vaccinated yet to be able to protect them,” Dr Young said.

The Premier acknowledged how “easy” it was for Covid-19 infections lapping at the state’s border to make it into Queensland.

“We can’t stop everything so we need Queenslanders to play their part,” she said.

There were 11,888 tests across Queensland on Friday and 23,631 vaccines administered – taking the state to 55.4 per cent of people with the first dose and 37 per cent of people fully jabbed.

Ms Palaszczuk said it was vital that people continued to use the Check-in Qld app and revealed she had been checked for compliance while visiting a cafe last week.

“If they’re checking me, they’re going to be checking you as well,” she said.

NSW recorded 1599 new Covid-19 cases and eight deaths on Friday while warm weather saw thousands of people congregating at Bondi, Bronte and Coogee beaches with minimal social distancing.

The number of Covid-19 cases in Victoria surged to 450, the highest daily tally since August 8, 2020 when 466 cases were recorded.

Originally published as Covid Qld: Qld cluster linked to one of three ‘essential workers’ from NSW