Melbourne couple, infected with Covid-19, travelled from Victoria to Queensland by car during lockdown

Officials have hinted an infected Melbourne couple who travelled through two other states may have had a legitimate reason to leave lockdown.

A Covid-positive Melbourne couple who travelled through NSW and Queensland may not have broken any lockdown rules, Victorian officials have revealed.

Travelling with her partner — who has also tested positive today — from one of Melbourne’s outer suburbs, a 44-year-old woman left Victoria on June 1, four days after Victoria’s lockdown started.

It’s understood the couple travelled from Victoria and through NSW before arriving at Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast where they stayed with family.

Shane Patton, Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, told ABC Melbourne this morning the woman “may have been moving interstate and (may have) had a legitimate reason to travel”.

Victoria’s Acting Premier James Merlino reiterated these claims, saying if the couple were relocating then they wouldn’t have broken lockdown the lockdown rules.

However, they may still have been in breach of Queensland’s border rules if they didn’t possess a valid exemption permit.

“Victoria was not able to speak to the couple yesterday for a case interview but we will do so today, and I think it is important to note that if they were relocating it is not a breach of directions here in Victoria but we just don’t know,” Mr Merlino said.

It was in Caloundra the woman tested positive on June 8 after joining relatives, but had been experiencing symptoms since as early as June 3.

RELATED: Victoria records four new local cases of coronavirus

Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski during a press conference in Brisbane. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

In an extraordinary twist this morning, the Courier Mailreports the case was only detected when the couple came forward for testing because the husband needed negative results for work purposes.

The Melbourne woman is being managed by Sunshine Coast University Hospital staff and her partner is also in hospital.

Queensland’s chief health officer Dr Jeanette Young today said it appeared both of the state’s cases were towards the end of their infectious period.

However, she said it was still extremely important for residents to come forward and get tested.

So far authorities have identified 17 immediate close contacts, with three of those testing negative to the virus.

As three states now scramble to track the pair’s movements, questions are rightly being asked about how they managed to leave Victoria and cross state lines when Melbourne had been declared a hotspot.

Melburnians in lockdown were banned from travelling 5km from home and Victorians have been banned from entering NSW unless they live in border communities.

RELATED: Urgent contact tracing underway as Queensland records one new case

A map of Queensland showing locations visited by a Victorian couple who left Melbourne during Covid-19 lockdown

RELATED: NSW Woolworths a Covid-19 exposure site

Queensland declared all of Victoria a hotspot on May 28, meaning anybody who had been in Victoria within 14 days of attempting to enter Queensland faced mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine.

The Queensland Health website outlines the only reason for entry into Queensland from a hotspot: “Essential purposes”. But authorities said nothing about an exemption when addressing the media on Wednesday afternoon.

“I don’t know the details of why they left or what the reason was,” Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said.

“Of course we will be looking into how all this happened.”

The couple took a route through regional NSW, stopping at Gillenbah, Forbes, Dubbo and Moree before crossing the border into Queensland at Goondiwindi – a town on the Macintyre River, 350km southwest of Brisbane.

According to the Courier Mail, one theory about the couple’s route is that they chose to cross the border at Goondiwindi because the focus of police patrols were on the border at the Gold Coast.

However, the inland drive from Victoria to Queensland, crossing the border at Goondiwindi, is a popular route.

Gold Coast police Superintendent Rhys Wildman said officers were performing up to 100 random intercepts every day.

“If you try to get into Queensland illegally through the Gold Coast, there is a high likelihood of being identified and intercepted,” he said.

RELATED: Queensland Kmart, Bunnings in virus alert

Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski provided a COVID-19 update on Wednesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dan Peled

The newspaper reports that police had not been considering reinstalling border checkpoints after Melbourne’s outbreak caused a lockdown.

Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski was asked at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon if the pair “lied on her declaration form”.

He would not be drawn on the question, saying the priority was tracking the pair’s movements.

“Of course we are going to investigate the circumstances of what’s happened here. All the aspects of how that’s occurred, including what’s happened in the other states, we will do in a cooperative manner with our colleagues in NSW and Victoria.

“We will examine all those issues around passes – whether they were appropriate and what has happened – it is too early to say.”

Their trip through NSW included plenty of stops, starting at Caltex Narrandera on June 1. They stopped at the Vandenberg Hotel in Forbes later that day and the Brew Coffee Bar, also in Forbes, on June 2.

They visited the Church Street Cafe, Reading Cinemas, the Homestead Hotel in Dubbo and a Shell petrol station on June 2 and made a second visit to the Homestead Hotel on June 3.

In Moree, the couple stopped at a Woolworths on June 3 and at Gwydir Carpark Motel & Thermal Pools on June 3, June 4 and June 5 and went to Cafe Omego in Moree on June 4 and June 5.

Queues of cars lined up for Covid testing at Caloundra after a Victorian woman tested positive in the holiday town on Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities in Queensland identified six close contacts from their time in the state.

A list of exposure sites include a Goondiwindi McDonald’s on June 5, Sunny’s cafe at Moffat Beach and Coffee Cat at Kings Beach on June 6, and Stockland Shopping Centre and a Bunnings Warehouse in Caloundra on June 7.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the woman and her partner entered Queensland on June 5, passing through Goondiwindi and Toowoomba.

“The woman was tested yesterday and, it was confirmed today, that it was a positive case,” Ms D’Ath said.

Dr Young said the news was a lot to deal with for Queenslanders who had already suffered through more than a year of uncertainty.

“The community has had to put up with so much now for 18 months and to do this again, it doesn’t matter the cause, any community case of Covid is going to be frustrating for a lot of people,” she said.

She urged anyone with even mild symptoms to get tested for Covid-19.

“Anyone who has been to an exposure site listed on our website must come forward and get tested,” she said.

Queensland Health says a woman who has tested positive to Covid-19 visited Bunnings in Caloundra on June 7.

“Anyone else who has symptoms – no matter how mild – need to be tested as soon as possible.

“Get tested and stay home until you get the results, as the most minor symptom might be Covid-19.

“Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, fatigue or loss of smell and/or taste.”

Victoria has recorded four new local cases of coronavirus on Thursday as Melburnians prepare to come out of a two-week lockdown.

The 14-day lockdown ends at midnight on Thursday but a number of restrictions remain in place, including a ban on travelling 25km from home unless for essential caregiving, work or to receive a vaccination.