Qld records one new local Covid-19 cases after infectious Sydney man entered state

Queensland has recorded a baffling new mystery Covid-19 case in a fully vaccinated man who had recently returned from China.

Queensland has recorded one new local case of Covid-19 as the state waits with bated breath for the fallout of an alleged border breach.

A fully vaccinated man who recently returned from China is the latest person to test positive to the virus.

Chief health officer Jeannette Young said he tested negative three times during hotel quarantine before falling ill the day after he was released.

Dr Young said she wasn’t yet sure how the man had acquired the virus.

Monday 26 July – coronavirus cases in Queensland:

1 new locally acquired case.

0 new overseas acquired cases.#covid19pic.twitter.com/Wc7IYCdsS6

— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) July 26, 2021

“It could’ve been in China, it could’ve been in hotel quarantine or it could’ve been in the community down on the Gold Coast,” she said.

Dr Young said the risk of community transmission should be low, but she was taking a cautious approach.

“He’s fully vaccinated and we still don’t fully understand what that means,” she said.

“There are so many unknowns here.”

The man and his family got tested on July 13, but test results were only returned on Sunday.

It’s unclear as to the reason for the delay.

Dr Young said exposure sites in Brisbane and the Gold Coast would continue to be added to the Queensland Health website in the coming days.

Dr Young said it was too early to tell if the alleged border breach would lead to a spike in infections. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass

It comes as dozens of new ones were listed on Sunday after the source of a Qantas flight attendant’s infection was identified as Sydney man who flew to Ballina and travelled with the woman to Brisbane.

Over seven days, the pair visited dozens of exposure sites while infectious.

The man had been identified as a close contact of a case in Sydney and was supposed to be in isolation for 14 days.

He had also received a false negative Covid-19 test.

However, Monday’s latest case is unrelated to the alleged border breaches.

Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said urgent contact tracing was now under way to determine where the pair had been after the flight attendant initially refused to co-operate.

“There are potential offences that were committed by both,” he said.