Brisbane outbreak not from coronavirus breaches

Queensland’s hotel quarantine COVID-19 outbreak is suspected to have been caused by surface or airborne transmission, but not airconditioning or ‘deliberate breaches’ by workers or guests.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath. Picture: Dan Peled

Queensland’s Grand Chancellor hotel quarantine COVID-19 outbreak is suspected to have been caused by surface or airborne transmission of the virus, but not airconditioning or “deliberate breaches” by workers or guests.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk ordered a snap three-day lockdown of greater Brisbane after a hotel cleaner at the Brisbane facility tested positive last month for the more virulent UK-strain of the virus. Five more people tested positive as the cluster grew, including other guests at the quarantine hotel.

An investigation report by police and the health department was delivered to Health Minister Yvette D’Ath on Wednesday night, and will be released in coming days. The Australian understands the report finds that existing hotel quarantine measures to contain the more infectious forms of the virus, particularly the UK strain, are now being challenged.

Investigators ruled out the hotel’s airconditioning system as a cause of the spread, but suspect it was caused by surface or airborne transmission of the ultra-infectious strain.

Ms D’Ath said there had been no deliberate protocol breaches by either guests or staff at the hotel.

“There is no breach of hotel worker going into rooms against protocol, and there’s no evidence of people, guests, who are quarantining in their rooms breaching quarantine and coming out,” she said.

“There is no deliberate breaches.”

She declared the Grand Chancellor cluster over, because it had been 29 days since a community transmitted case had been recorded in the state.

Since the Grand Chancellor cluster, all hotel quarantine workers are required to be tested after every shift, and received a nasal swab test every week.