8 June 2020
More than 119 people have tested negative to COVID-19 after coming into contact with an infected farm worker in the Wide Bay region.
The man, 24, remains in isolation under clinical supervision in Bundaberg after being diagnosed with the disease on Friday.
He travelled from Melbourne to Bundaberg, via Brisbane, last week to work on a fruit farm.
Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said 119 people had tested negative so far, including 18 close contacts in Brisbane and 101 co-workers in Bundaberg. Results are continuing to come in.
“We’re very happy with the results so far, and with the great response from the farming business, the patient’s contacts, and the Wide Bay community,” she said.
“But we have a lot of work to do before we can be confident there has been no further transmission. We’ll continue with our rapid response to this case, and our contact tracing to try and find every person the patient had potential contact with since arriving in Queensland a week ago.
“As a precaution, we plan to do a round of follow-up testing later this week.”
Queensland Health is contacting passengers aboard two flights – Virgin VA313 (Melbourne-Brisbane) and Virgin VA2905 (Brisbane-Bundaberg).
From Bundaberg, VA2905 flew to Gladstone. Close contacts identified on the Gladstone flight are to remain in quarantine for 14 days. They will be closely monitored by the Central Queensland Public Health Unit.
Passengers of the Virgin flights, who have not already been contacted, are urged to call 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84).
Queensland Health will communicate further if we have any more confirmed cases, or if it’s determined that there are any further public health risks.
The patient entered Queensland as an exempt seasonal worker exemption under the Border Direction from Melbourne on 1 June and spent time in Brisbane before flying to Bundaberg the following day.
Dr Young said it was likely he was infected by a flatmate in Melbourne where there is ongoing community transmission.
Queensland’s COVID-19 tally remains at 1,062, with no new cases over the past 24 hours. Three cases remain active and two people are being treated for the disease in hospital.
People should get tested for COVID-19 if they had symptoms including:
- cough
- sore throat
- shortness of breath
- runny nose
- fever (or history of fever)
People may also experience other symptoms that are different to what is shown above, such as headache, loss of smell, loss of taste, nausea or vomiting, muscle pain, joint pain, diarrhoea or a loss of appetite. Symptoms can vary depending on each case. If you have a sudden onset of any COVID-19 symptoms, you should contact your doctor or 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84) for advice.
For the latest information, go to www.health.qld.gov.au/coronavirus.