Australia rugby team allowed to play at Cbus Stadium on Gold Coast after contact with Covid case

David Crisafulli has hit out after it was revealed the Wallabies were allowed to play on the Gold Coast despite being in close contact with a Covid-infected person. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK - VOTE IN OUR POLL

OPPOSITION leader David Crisafulli says “Queenslanders deserve to know we are all playing by the same rules” after it was revealed the Wallabies rugby team was allowed to play on the Gold Coast on October 2 despite being in close contact with a Covid-infected person.

It is alleged the person tested positive to Covid on September 29 and told contact tracers they had been in Townsville during the infectious period and taken selfies with Wallabies players, shared a lift and shaken hands.

Queensland Health declined to comment, but health sources said the person only became infectious on September 24, after leaving Townsville.

Other sources told the Bulletin the person caught the virus on September 20.

The venue where the person met the Wallabies – the Hotel Grand Chancellor – was listed as a low-risk exposure site on September 23 and September 24.

Mr Crisafulli said the community had seen cases before where Queensland families were stranded interstate while “sporting entourages” were allowed in.

“Throughout the pandemic, thousands of Queenslanders have done the right thing when they were asked to isolate. They played by the rules,” he said.

“Queenslanders deserve to know that we are all playing by the same rules here and that we are all being treated equally.”

Bonney MP Sam O’Connor said he’d been contacted by the person after they felt their concerns were dismissed and the “vital information he was giving to Queensland Health didn’t seem to be taken on”.

This was in relation to being in close contact with the Wallabies over at least three days.

“Information which the person did not believe Queensland Health initially took seriously,” he said.

“They did a follow up last Sunday with several hours of interviews, but this was a substantial amount of time after he first told them.”

Wallabies played at Gold Coast after contact with Covid case

October 6

THE Australia Rugby team was allowed to play on the Gold Coast to a near sell-out crowd last week despite being in contact with a Covid-infected person in Townsville the week before, the Bulletin has learned.

It is alleged the person tested positive to Covid on September 29 and told contact tracers they had been in Townsville during the infectious period and taken selfies with Wallabies players, shared a lift and shaken hands.

Queensland Health declined to comment.

Health sources last night said the person only became infectious on September 24, after leaving Townsville.

Other people the Bulletin spoke to say the person caught the virus on September 20.

The venue where the person met the Wallabies – the Hotel Grand Chancellor – was listed as a low-risk exposure site on September 23.

Wallabies players applaud fans after beating Argentina at Cbus Super Stadium in Robina on Saturday. (Photo by Jono Searle/Getty Images)

Sources have told the Bulletin that a day after the Wallabies clashed with Argentina at Cbus Stadium on October 3, the person was again contacted by Queensland Health contact tracers, this time interviewing them for hours about their whereabouts in Townsville.

“They got a call on Sunday mid-afternoon, the day after the game had been played,” an insider said.

“They said they were calling to get additional information but all they wanted to know was about the week in Townsville. The questioning lasted for hours.

“How on earth can the Wallabies be allowed to travel to the Gold Coast to play when they were in close contact with a Covid-infected person? What does this say about the hypocrisy of Queensland Health?

“Thousands of people are stranded across the border, likely none of them have been in contact with a Covid case, yet they are not allowed free travel.”

Jake Gordon of the Wallabies wrestles the ball during The Rugby Championship match between the Argentina and Australian Wallabies at Cbus Super Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by Jono Searle/Getty Images)

It comes as thousands of residents who’ve come in close contact with Covid-infected cases must stay at home for 14 days even if they return a negative test.

Last month, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk also shut the border for anyone from the southern states, saying the state’s hotel quarantine system was not coping with demand.

Queensland Health has also repeatedly knocked back dozens of exemption requests from residents locked out of the state to visit dying relatives or have lifesaving cancer treatment.

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