NT declares Toowoomba a COVID hot spot

Toowoomba has been declared a hot spot by the NT government due to a “major exposure” incident that occurred at a pub in the regional city on Friday.

Toowoomba has been declared a hot spot by the NT government due to a “major exposure” incident that occurred at a pub in the regional city on Friday.

But Queensland Health has assured the state that there are no exposure sites nor community transmission of COVID-19 in Toowoomba.

It comes after NT’s Acting Chief Minister Nicole Manison, in a press conference this afternoon, said that after a meeting of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, the Territory had decided to declare Toowoomba a hot spot.

Toowoomba has been declared a hot spot by the NT. Picture: Bev Lacey / The Chronicle

Anyone who has been in Toowoomba since Friday, March 26 and arrives in the NT must self-isolate and get tested.

NT’s Chief Health Officer Dr Hugh Heggie, in the press conference, said “(In) Toowoomba there is a very large hotel that can contain a very large amount of people, so Queensland Health will be identifying people that have been in that hotel, to make sure (if) they were contacts or close contacts”.

According to multiple sources within the NT government, information out of AHPPC had pointed to major exposure at a pub in Toowoomba.

NT’s Chief Minister Michael Gunner has himself gone into isolation after meeting with family members over the weekend who travelled from Toowoomba.

But Queensland Health, in a statement, told The Courier-Mail they were not aware of any exposure sites in Toowoomba, the Sunshine Coast or on the Gold Coast.

Originally published as NT declares Toowoomba a COVID hot spot