Three new local cases recorded in Queensland

Several new Covid exposure sites have been listed after three new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 were recorded in Queensland overnight, while a likely Omicron case has been confirmed in hotel quarantine.

Queensland Health has added several exposure sites across the Gold Coast to its contact tracing website on Saturday night.

Several low risk and casual contact sites were listed including shops at Robina Town Centre and the Dan Murphy’s at Nerang.

LOCATIONS

Tuesday 30 November

Big W, Robina Town Centre

9.15am - 10.05am Casual contact

Robina Town Centre, Robina Town Centre Drive

9.15am - 1.30pm Low risk contact

Myer, Robina Town Centre

1am - 12.15pm Casual contact

Thursday 2 December

Dan Murphy’s, 53 Station Street Nerang

3pm - 3.30pm Casual contact

Earlier on Saturday, it was announced that three new locally acquired Covid cases were recorded in Queensland overnight.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said four other Covid cases had been reported in hotel quarantine – including one which is a likely Omicron case.

“Four of those have been infectious in the community for a period of time,” she said.

Contact tracing is underway after more cases of coronavirus were detected in Queensland overnight. #covid19 https://t.co/G8hUXVLM9u

— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) December 3, 2021

Ms D’Ath said greater Adelaide would be declared a hotspot from 1am tomorrow.

“This follows, of course, the many cases that have been connected to the school reunion in Adelaide which has now seen two positive cases here in Queensland,” she said.

Ms D’Ath said anyone who has been in Adelaide since 1am on November 28 who arrives in Queensland after 1am tomorrow will be required to go into 14 days mandatory home or hotel quarantine.

She said they are required to be fully vaccinated.

“If they arrive after 1am tomorrow and before 1am Saturday, we don’t require them to have a negative PCR test,” she said, adding they needed to get a test as soon as they arrive.

The Capalaba case announced on Friday acquired the virus after returning from a “superspreader” school reunion in Adelaide.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath urged people with symptoms to get tested urgently.

She said the close contact of the Capalaba case had now also tested positive. A case in hotel quarantine who had acquired the virus interstate is an unvaccinated child.

Ms D’Ath said the Redlands local government area had very good vaccination rates, with 92 per cent first dose and 83.2 per cent second dose.

She said “we still don’t know where the original source is” for the two Gold Coast cases.

“We are still seeking the source, which means there could still be more community transmission on the Gold Coast,” Ms D’Ath said.

She said the Gold Coast currently had 83 per cent of people who’d had their first vaccination dose and 73.8 per cent with their second.

Currently 87.03 per cent of Queenslanders have had a first dose and 77.7 per cent are fully vaccinated.

At this stage there’s no change the plan to open Queensland up to other states. Ms D’Ath said more would be said on Monday as to when Queensland will hit 80 per cent vaccination status.

Meanwhile, Queensland could have its first case of Omicron in hotel quarantine.

One traveller who has returned from South Africa does not have the Delta variant, prompting authorities to treat it as the Omicron variant.

“One of four overseas arrivals had travelled from South Africa and we had been doing genomic sequencing on this person,” Ms D’Ath said.

“The public health unit have ruled out that it’s Delta but we haven’t been able to confirm it’s Omicron. It is being treated as that but it is not known what type of variant it is.”

She asked for anyone in the Redlands area with any symptoms to get tested given the community transmission cases in that area.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath. Picture: NewsWire/Sarah Marshall

Overnight, Queensland Health announced new close-contact exposure sites on Friday night, following a confirmed case on Virgin flight VA1403 from Adelaide to Brisbane on Monday, November 29.

Passengers seated in rows 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 were close contacts, while all other passengers are deemed low-risk contacts.

The News@BNE store on level 2 at Brisbane Airport has been identified as a low-risk exposure site on Tuesday.

Exposure sites have also been updated including several shops at Robina Town Centre and the Mudgeeraba Aldi.

Queensland Health have also alerted that the Aldi on Warwick Rd, Yamanto in Ipswich’s south is a low risk exposure site.

It is unknown if the Yamanto exposure site is linked to a known case.

It comes as a new locally acquired case of Covid-19 has been detected in the Redlands suburb of Capalaba.

A public health alert has been issued for contact tracing locations.

Originally published as Three new local cases recorded in Queensland