Coronavirus Qld: ‘Don’t know how it transmitted’: Brisbane cluster grows to six, 600 in quarantine

Concerned authorities are scrambling to quarantine more than 600 people and evacuate a Brisbane hotel after the UK cluster grew to six with two people catching the highly-infectious strain mysteriously just by staying on the same floor of the hotel.

Concerned health authorities are scrambling to test hundreds of people after a cluster at a Brisbane hotel grew to six, with two people catching the highly-infectious UK strain mysteriously just by staying on the same floor of the hotel, forcing more than 600 people into quarantine.

Queensland recorded no new cases of community transmission overnight, but two new cases were detected in hotel quarantine.

Two other hotel quarantine cases announced as being detected at the Hotel Grand Chancellor yesterday were today confirmed to be the same UK strain as the cluster - having been caught simply by the guests staying on the same floor as other cases, prompting swift action from authorities.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the latest genomic testing had now uncovered six cases of the highly infectious UK variant of COVID with a man and his daughter who travelled back from Lebanon catching the virus from another quarantine guest.

Queensland's hotel cluster has grown to six. Photo: News Corp

The first case was a man who travelled back from Ghana. His partner subsequently tested positive, then a hotel cleaner caught it along with her partner. The father and daughter have now been added to the cluster.

Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young admitted she still did not know how the highly infections strain was transmitted inside the hotel.

“This is new information to have six people linked to someone who has been in quarantine,” she said.

“This has happened very quickly and we’re struggling to find out how it’s got out of that room.

“I don’t understand how it happened on floor 7. I don’t know how it’s transmitted.

“We need to just find all those people and test them.”

The Grand Chancellor Hotel where the cluster of cases of the UK strain of COVID-19 has grown to six. (Photo by Jono Searle/Getty Images)

Returned overseas travellers, who have already completed 14 days in quarantine at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, will now be evacuated to other hotels for another 14 days as authorities scramble to establish how the cases have been transmitted.

They will not be charged for their stays.

Combined with 250 guests who had stayed at the hotel since December 30, 226 workers and 129 current guests who have been relocated to other hotels, it means more than 600 people will be forced into quarantine.

Ms Palaszczuk said the cluster of the highly infectious strain was of “national concern”.

“We now are concerned about this cluster,” the Premier said.

“Both groups stayed on the same floor at the same time.

She said if the UK variant “gets out of control, it can have devastating consequences”.

“This is of concern, it is of national concern,” she said.

“Everybody needs to be on higher alert with this particular strain.”

Authorities do not yet know how the virus was transmitted between the initial case and the father and daughter who arrived from Lebanon, except that they were staying in the same hotel.

“We don’t know how both groups caught it - was it via air conditioning, movement, picking up something ... we just don’t know those answers yet,” she said.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the Hotel Grand Chancellor cluster is of “national concern”. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

The six cases include:

· A man in his thirties who arrived from the UK on December 30.

· His partner – a woman in her thirties who arrived from the UK on December 30.

· A hotel cleaner in her 20s.

· Her partner – a man in his 20s.

· A man in his 40s who arrived from Lebanon on January 1.

· His daughter – a woman in her 20s, who arrived on January 1.

Ms Palaszczuk said keeping Queenslanders safe “keeps me up at night”.

She said having to do an additional 14 days of quarantine was going to be tough for Hotel Grand Chancellor guests. But she said it was necessary.

“What we are seeing is that this UK variant is unknown,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“I think we need to immediately look at the way in which we are handling people coming into the country ... and also too looking at the quarantine hotels that they are going into,” she said.

Dr Young said genomic sequencing would be done on the virus found in today’s two latest cases of pandemic virus detected in hotel quarantine.

She said Queensland Health had been working through the night to compile lists of staff and guests who had been at the Hotel Grand Chancellor since December 30.

She said police were leading the investigation into how the UK variant of the virus escaped hotel quarantine, helped by Queensland Health staff.

At this point in time scientists did not believe the UK variant caused more severe illness.

There have been 406 close contacts of both the COVID-positive hotel quarantine worker and her partner who have been tracked down.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said during the past six days since the cleaner tested positive for the UK variant of the virus, more than 100,000 tests for the pandemic virus had been performed.

The cleaner, in her 20s, is the first case of a hotel quarantine employee being infected at work in Queensland.

Queensland Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said police had to issue six notices to appear for instances related to the lockdown, including a person at Annerley who allegedly assaulted police after he was asked to wear a mask and refused.

Mr Gollschewski said the investigation into how the cleaner developed the virus at the hotel was being prioritised.

“These things are meticulous. They take time,” he said.

Queensland on Tuesday recorded three new cases, one of which was the cleaner’s partner who authorities fear was infectious in the community for two days.

The further two cases were a father and a daughter who travelled from Lebanon and tested positive on Day 10 of hotel quarantine.

She said health authorities had not found anything that linked the cleaner with the man who initially contracted the UK strain overseas.

A quarantined guest waves from his balcony at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Spring Hill, Brisbane. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Dr Young said she had advised the Premier that the safest thing to do was the move all of the guests out of the Grand Chancellor Hotel immediately.

Dr Young said hotel quarantine workers “must wear masks and gloves and gowns”.

“If they’re doing deep cleaning, so that’s a room that’s had a case in it, there’s more than that,” she said.

It comes as “vulnerabilities” in Queensland’s hotel quarantine system have prompted the Opposition to demand an overhaul as police investigators prepare to sift through four days of CCTV to understand how a hotel cleaner was infected.

A joint Queensland Health and police investigation has been launched into the incident, which resulted in 2.5 million Greater Brisbane residents being plunged into a three-day lockdown.

LATEST RESTRICTIONS AND HEALTH ALERTS

Until 1am, Friday January 22:

MASKS

Must be worn in indoor places, including shopping centres and supermarkets, gyms, workplaces where people cannot socially distance and where it is safe to do so, places of worship, libraries, public transport, taxis and ride share vehicles.

Must be carried at all times.

Are not required to be worn when outdoors at a safe distance from other people (for example, walking a dog), in private vehicles or doing

strenuous exercise.

BUSINESSES AND VENUES

Indoors: 1 person
per 4sq m

Outdoors:
1 person per 2sq m

Seated eating and drinking only

Smaller venues up to 200sq m: 1 person per 2sq m up to a maximum of 50

No dancing except

for weddings

GATHERINGS

Up to 20 in homes and public spaces

Weddings: Up to 100. No restrictions on dancing

Funerals: Up to 100

Indoor concert venues or theatres: 50% capacity, or 1 person per 4sq m – whichever is greater

Outdoor stadiums: 50% capacity with COVIDSafe plans

Restrictions on visits to hospitals, aged care, disability accommodation and prisons remain.

QUEENSLAND HEALTH ALERTS FOR TESTING:

SOUTHSIDE BRISBANE (RELATED TO CLEANER AND PARTNER)

Two sites were added to the contact tracing list after the quarantine hotel cleaner’s partner tested positive on Monday.

Anyone who visited Bunnings Warehouse in Acacia Ridge from 2pm to 2:40pm on Tuesday, January 5, and Sunnybank Cellars in Sunnybank Hills from 2:05pm to 2:15pm on Wednesday, January 6, has been urged to get tested and quarantine at home for 14 days regardless of the outcome.

An urgent public health alert was issued late on Saturday evening, ordering anyone who had visited Coles at Sunnybank Hills Shoppingtown on January 5, 7.30am-8am, or Woolworths Calamvale North on January 3, 11am-noon to get tested and quarantine for 14 days, regardless of the test result.

The Public Health Unit confirmed anyone who attended these venues at these times was now considered to be a close contact with a Brisbane quarantine hotel cleaner who tested positive to the UK variant.

The Nextra newsagency at Sunnybank Hills was also added to this list of “critical importance”.

Authorities have also asked anybody on the Altandi to Roma St Station train at 7am on January 2 and Central to Altandi train at 4pm on January 2 to get tested.

MALENY (RELATED TO PASSENGER FROM MELBOURNE)

Health alerts have been issued for three venues in Maleny after a woman flew from Melbourne to Brisbane and then drove to the Sunshine Coast hinterland town on January 5. The woman also had the UK mutant strain of COVID-19 and had been in quarantine in Melbourne for 10 days before being allowed to fly but has since tested positive for the virus. At the time 10 days was the required quarantine period and no exit test was required.

Dr Young said the risk was “extremely low” but said Queensland Health wanted to be cautious.

Queensland Health has urged anyone who visited the Cappriccios Italian Pizza Restaurant on January 6, between 6.30pm and 7pm, to get tested.

They have also issued the same advice for those who visited Purple Palate Cellars between 4.15pm and 4.25pm on January 7 as well as the Maleny Woolworths supermarket on the same day between 4.30pm and 4.50pm.

Anyone in the Maleny area with any symptoms has also been urged to come forward for testing.

Dr Young said health authorities wanted to test passengers on Jetstar flight JQ570 but she said Queensland Health had already contacted all passengers.

Originally published as Coronavirus Qld: ‘Don’t know how it transmitted’: Brisbane cluster grows to six, 600 in quarantine