Bosses of Kirra cafe wrongly named as Covid exposure site by Queensland Health speak out
It took more than eight hours for health officials to release details of Covid exposure sites – but the delay didn’t prevent them from making an embarrassing blunder. WHAT HAPPENED
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A GOLD Coast cafe has wrongly been added to Covid exposure sites, which Mayor Tom Tate had already slammed for being too slow to be updated.
But the owners of Kirramisu Cafe and Restaurant are brushing off Queensland Health’s blunder despite the list – and subsequent error – taking more than eight hours to become public.
The cafe was last week mistakenly identified after a confirmed case was believed to have visited, however, health officials later learned that was incorrect.
Haig St Cafe and Restaurant – which operates next door to Kirramisu on Musgrave Street under the same ownership – was in fact the exposure site.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk visited that same cafe on September 27 about an hour after the infected man: “Due to the mix up we decided we’d deep clean as a precaution across the two venues. At least Annastacia knows where the best coffee in Kirra is … or does she,” management joked in a post to social media.
The blunder was quickly realised at the weekend when it became evident Kirramisu had been closed since August due to the current border situation.
Both venues will be closed until at least October 11: “(This) has been such an emotional time and loss for our team but we will keep you updated as much as we can,” management wrote.
“This caused a great deal of confusion for all involved, including the Premier that apparently visited Kirramisu this week.”
Bosses confirmed a total 14 of the cafe’s 17 staff members had been tested and were self-isolating. The remaining three staffers are locked out of state in Tweed.
A spokesperson for the premier said Ms Palaszczuk was not required to get tested or self-isolate as she did not attend the venue at the same time as the Covid case.
“The Premier was in that area on Monday but not during the exposure time” the spokesperson said, adding Queensland Health confirmed no further action was required.
FULL LIST: New exposure sites in Tweed Heads, northern NSW
October 1, 2021
NSW Health has updated its exposure sites to include Tweed Heads businesses as well as eateries in Cabarita Beach and a petrol station in South Murwillumbah.
Anyone who has visited the sites is being asked to get tested immediately and isolate at home until they return a negative Covid-19 test.
Saturday, September 25, 2021
Woolworths Supermarket Tweed Heads, 5.55-6.55pm
Aldi Tweed Heads South, 5-6pm
Willserve Petrol Station, South Murwillumbah, 5-6pm
Monday, September 27, 2021
Tweed Valley Meats, Cabarita Beach, 4.30-5.15pm
Woolworths Supermarket Cabarita, 4.30-5.15pm
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Pottsville Chiropractic, 6.15-6.45pm
Willserve Petrol Station, South Murwillumbah, 4.15-4.25pm
Woolworths Supermarket Cabarita, 6.55-7.30pm
Cabarita Beach Kebabs, 6.50-7.15pm
EARLIER
MORE than ten southern Gold Coast businesses have been named as new exposure sites after a confirmed Covid case visited the area in recent days.
Queensland has recorded two new local Covid cases and two overseas-acquired cases detected in hotel quarantine on Saturday.
NSW recorded 813 cases and 10 deaths in the same time period.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk revealed on Friday a man - linked to the Eaton’s Hill aviation cluster - had spent time in the Kirra area since September 25 while holidaying with his family, moving about the community while unknowingly infected.
His two children have now tested positive as well.
Chief health officer Jeannette Young said: “We’re double checking there weren’t any other venues they attended.
“But now every single day that we don’t have community transmission is another day that more than 50,000 Queenslanders have the opportunity to get vaccinated.
“We have plenty of vaccine.”
The cases were detected in home quarantine, however authorities are still looking at whether they spent any time in the community.
Meanwhile, the state government is still refusing to say if the border will open when 80 per cent of the population is vaccinated.
“I have said continuously around the 80 per cent threshold that the Doherty Institute modelling is not just about percentage,” Ms D’Ath said.
“It’s also … the number of outbreaks you’ve got.”
Greenmount Surf Club and popular eatery Kirramisu Café and Restaurant have been listed among 11 exposure sites in the border community.
If you are a potential contact, please refer to Queensland Health for further advice.
Queensland Health has advised the below locations are considered exposure sites:
Saturday 25 September 2021
Iconic Kirra Beach Resort, 1pm - 11.59pm - Casual contact
North Kirra Surf Club, 5.35pm - 7.30pm - Close contact
Sunday 26 September 2021
Iconic Kirra Beach Resort, 12am - 11.59pm - Casual contact
Kirramisu Café and Restaurant, 8am - 9.25am - Close contact
The Strand (including Cinema lobby), 9.30am - 12.15pm - Low risk contact
Woolworths at the Strand, 9.50am - 11am- Low risk contact
Timezone Coolangatta, 11.40am - 12.15pm - Casual contact
Playground - Roughton Park, Musgrave, 1.30pm - 2.30pm - Low risk contact
BWS Tugun, 475 Golden Four DriveTugun 3.15pm - 3.35pm - Casual contact
Kirra Surf Apartments, 2 Creek Street, Kirra, 3.30pm - 8.15pm - Low risk contact
Monday 27 September 2021
Iconic Kirra Beach Resort, 12am - 11.59pm - Casual contact
Kirramisu Café and Restaurant, 7.30am - 7.55am - Casual contact
Playground - Roughton Park, Musgrave Street, 1.45pm - 3.15pm - Low risk contact
Greenmount Beach Surf Club, 5.15pm - 7.30pm - Close contact
Tuesday 28 September 2021
Iconic Kirra Beach Resort, 12am - 11.59pm - Casual contact
Kirramisu Café and Restaurant, 7.25am - 7.55am - Casual contact
The Strand, 4.20pm - 4.55pm - Low risk contact
Woolworths at the Strand, 4.20pm - 4.55pm - Low risk contact
Tupe-Aloha, 1 Musgrave St & Douglas St, Coolangatta, 7.20pm - 7.35pm - Casual contact
Wednesday 29 September 2021
Iconic Kirra Beach Resort, 12am - 11.59pm - Casual contact
Thursday 30 September 2021
Iconic Kirra Beach Resort, 12am - 4.40pm - Casual contact
South Gold Coast venue reveals exposure site status
October 1, 2021
A GOLD Coast Surf Club feared to be an exposure site after a confirmed Covid case visited late last week has been given the all-clear by health authorities.
Surf Life Saving Queensland released a statement late Friday afternoon, revealing Kirra Surf Club officials had been informed by Queensland Health it was not an exposure site.
It comes after a Covid-positive man visiting from Brisbane spent four days moving about the Kirra area while unknowingly infected.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk revealed earlier today the case was linked to the Eatons Hill aviation cluster detailed earlier this week.
The man stayed at the iconic Kirra Beach Resort with his wife and two children and they visited North Kirra Surf Life Saving Club, Kirra Surf Club, Timezone at Coolangatta, Woolworths at The Strand shopping complex, as well as cafes in the area.
No further Kirra sites have been added to Queensland Health’s exposure sites at this time.
New Covid cases travelled to southern Gold Coast
October 1, 2021
QUEENSLAND has recorded two new local Covid-19 cases, but the southeast has dodged a lockdown for now despite concerns about exposure sites on the southern Gold Coast.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk revealed the two new locally acquired cases and one new overseas case at a press conference at Brisbane just after 10am on Friday morning.
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She said one local case was linked to the Eatons Hill aviation cluster detailed earlier this week and that the person had spent four days on the southern Coast on holidays from September 25.
He stayed at the iconic Kirra Beach Resort with his wife and two children and they visited North Kirra Surf Life Saving Club, Kirra Surf Club, Timezone at Coolangatta, Woolworths at The Strand shopping complex, as well as cafes in the area.
Specific dates, times and locations will be posted on the Queensland Health website soon.
“Anyone who has been to any of those venues or in that part of the Gold Coast over the past week and has any symptoms it’s important, now is the time to really please come forward and get tested,” Dr Young said.
The second local case, a man who travels the east coast relocating animals, became infected in New South Wales and was in the southern Coast community for one day on September 29.
Dr Young said that case was not of particular concern.
“I don’t think he’s a risk,” she said.
Ms Palaszczuk said the new overseas case became infected in Egypt and was detected in hotel quarantine.
No mystery cases have emerged, which would have been a likely trigger for a snap lockdown.
“It’s encouraging news today that we don’t have unlinked community transmission and we have high levels of testing,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“If the advice is to go into lockdown, we will go into lockdown.
“The fundamental reason we’re not in lock down is because we don’t have any seeding or unlinked community transmission."
Ms Palaszczuk said 19,764 tests had been undertaken in the previous 24 hours, which gave the government “an additional level of confidence”.
There was 22 coronavirus cases active in the community on Friday.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said compared to the situation ahead of the previous lockdown related to the Indooroopilly cluster, Queensland’s vaccination rate was now 20 per cent higher, and 4.8 million doses of the Covid vaccine had been administered across the state.
She urged everyone to get a vaccine, even those on holidays, saying they shouldn’t wait for appointments but should instead get a jab “today”.
“Please don’t wait, we want people to come out and get vaccinated,” she said.
Ms D’Ath said with walk-ins were available at every Queensland Health vaccination centre. She urged people to get their vaccine ahead of scheduled appointments, even if it was only days away.
On Thursday Queensland Police stopped more than 14,600 vehicles at the border and more than 100 were refused entry because they did not have the proper exemptions to enter Queensland.
Officers also handed out 67 masks.
Meanwhile, Victoria has 1143 new local cases and three deaths, it was announced on Friday, while NSW recorded 864 new cases and 15 deaths
Queensland has recorded 2039 cases in total since the pandemic began, seven people with the virus have died and 2005 patients have recovered.
On Thursday, Ms Palaszczuk warned the state is in a “critical” period to stop the spread of the Delta variant of the virus throughout Queensland.
Locally acquired cases have been spreading across the Coast, Brisbane, Moreton Bay and Townsville, but contact tracers have pinpointed their origins within a day.
A lockdown has been avoided partially due to rising vaccination rates and the use of face masks.
Late on Thursday, it was reported 52 people had been forced into home quarantine after a 14-year-old girl attending a bronze medallion course at Southport Surf Life Saving Club tested positive.
The girl was one of six new cases of Covid recorded in Queensland on Thursday, which came after a Biggera Waters resident and a Gaven resident both tested positive.
The trio of new cases resulted in the publication of new exposure sites across the Coast.
The Queensland government has urged the community to continue to social distance.
Anyone who is unwell, or displaying even the mildest coronavirus symptoms, should stay home and immediately phone their GP or 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84) to arrange a test.
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