Man with COVID arrested at airport trying to sneak into Queensland
A Victorian man with COVID-19 has been arrested at Brisbane Airport trying to enter Queensland. (Photo: AAP Image/Darren England)
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Tuesday the borders will stay shut as a Victorian man who had coronavirus was caught trying to the enter the state and two more local cases were reported.
“We said we would review at the end of the each month and there has been no advice from the chief health officer to change what we are doing,” she said.
The premier said Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young wanted to see southern states, and NSW in particular, go through two COVID-19 incubation cycles without any cases of community transmission.
“I’ll tell you what we’re looking for: to keep Queenslanders safe, that’s what we’re looking for,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“Dr Young, our chief health officer, has made it very clear that she doesn’t want to see community transmission and there is community transmission at the moment in the southern states.”
Health authorities in NSW have confirmed 13 new coronavirus infections in the 24 hours to 8:00pm yesterday.
Two of the cases are returned travellers in hotel quarantine. The other 11 cases are locally acquired and linked to known clusters, including seven which are connected to the CBD cluster.
Victorian authorities reported 70 new coronavirus infections overnight — the lowest single-day total in more than eight weeks.
Five new deaths were also recorded — the lowest single-day toll since four deaths were reported on August 15.
Palaszczuk said her border closures had been vindicated by the arrest of the Victorian man with COVID-19 arriving at Brisbane Airport on Monday.
Victorian authorities had been trying to find the man after he tested positive for the virus a few weeks ago.
He was intercepted by police at the airport after arriving on his 9.19am flight and could be charged after further investigation.
“This is great work from the police that have been able to apprehend this man, who was trying to get into Queensland illegally,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“This goes to show how strong our border measures and the fact that they are working.”
The premier said contact tracing would be conducted on passengers on the flight and some may need to self-quarantine.
Queensland recorded another two COVID-19 cases in 24 hours to 9am, with the total number of active cases reaching 28.
One case was an 18-year-old student at Staines Memorial College at Redbank Plains.
The school has closed indefinitely after another student tested positive on Sunday night. All 600 students are being screened.
The second case was a 37-year-old male nurse who worked at Ipswich Hospital.
The man felt abdominal pain and decided to get tested as a precaution.
Health Minister Steven Miles thanked the nurse for his exemplary actions.
“It underlines how we can all do the right thing by monitoring our health and if we have any symptoms at all that are of any cause for concern we can go and get tests,” he said.
The health minister said 7489 had been conducted in 24 hours to 9am on Tuesday, down from more than 6865 in the previous 24 hours.
Health restrictions remain in place preventing more than 10 people gathering in Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan, the Gold Coast, South Burnett and Goondiwindi without a COVID-19 safety plan.
Mr Miles conceded on Monday restrictions could remain for up to four weeks.
-AAP