Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra hospital in lockdown after COVID-19 case identified

A Brisbane hospital has gone into lockdown after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19, with people asked to avoid the emergency department.

A Brisbane hospital has gone into lockdown after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19, with people asked to avoid the emergency department.

Queensland Health said it was in process of contact tracing the case at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Woolloongabba, which has been “placed into lockdown effective immediately”.

A staff member, believed to be a doctor, tested positive today after coming into contact with infected patients in the early hours of March 10.

MEDIA RELEASE: COVID-19 case identified at PA Hospital

The Princess Alexandra Hospital has been placed into lockdown effective immediately after a positive #COVID19 case was detected today (12 March 2021).

Read more here: https://t.co/zZolu6CEc4pic.twitter.com/qWk4l3Xeco

— Queensland Health (@qldhealthnews) March 12, 2021

All non-essential visits to the hospital are now banned and anyone who does attend will be required to wear masks at all times. Non-urgent outpatient bookings and elective surgery will be postponed, according to officials.

Tests indicate a low level of the virus, which means the staff member may have only been infectious in the community for around one day on March 11, Queensland Health reported.

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Ambulances at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Woolloongabba, Brisbane, which has been placed into lockdown ‘effective immediately’. Picture: David Clark

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All patients, staff and families the person interacted with are being identified and appropriate actions are being taken, according to Queensland Health, with the hospital “actively working to ensure the safety of staff and patients”.

“If there is a risk to the public from the hospital or any other location this person has visited, we will issue a public health alert,” said the press release.

While the hospital’s emergency department will remain open, patients were advised to visit nearby hospitals or a GP where possible.

Further details will be provided tomorrow morning. Anyone with any COVID-19 symptoms should get tested immediately and isolate until they receive a negative result.

More to come