A Queensland student who returned home from Melbourne has tested positive for COVID-19, sparking health alerts on the Sunshine Coast, in Brisbane and in the state’s far north.
Queensland’s chief health officer Jeannette Young suspects the woman picked up the virus at a Melbourne pub, that was declared a tier one exposure site.
She’d visited the Young and Jackson Hotel in Melbourne, where she’d been studying, on July 10 before returning to Queensland on July 13.
Dr Young believes she was infectious in the community from July 15 and probably until July 17.
The woman received an SMS from Victorian health authorities soon after returning to Queensland, and while she was on the Sunshine Coast.
She got a test but it was negative and she went about her business.
She was out and about at various locations on the Sunshine Coast, and on Friday, July 16, she travelled by Uber, bus and train to Brisbane airport, where she boarded Virgin Australia flight VA791 to Cairns.
She was picked up there by a relative and she was driven back to her home in Mareeba.
After developing some symptoms she went to the Atherton fever clinic on Sunday and returned a positive result on Monday night.
The woman did wear a mask when she was on public transport, and was fully vaccinated, with Dr Young expressing hope that will limit any spread of the virus.
Two new overseas acquired cases were also detected in hotel quarantine.
Australian Associated Press