20 June 2021

My update today includes important information around a positive COVID-19 case detected overnight in Brisbane, as well as updates on Queensland’s new permanent Travel Declaration system and changes to criteria for the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

POSITIVE CASE DETECTED IN BRISBANE

A woman and tested positive to COVID-19 in Queensland overnight. She is a flight crew member who recently completed 14 days quarantine and visited multiple sites around Brisbane on Saturday whilst infectious. Contact tracing is currently underway.

The crew member tested negative three times while in hotel quarantine for two weeks but returned a positive result on Saturday night. That subsequent test was undertaken as part of routine weekly aircrew screening that is required of all international aircrew, hours after she had completed her quarantine.

The CHO today explained that the most likely source of the case was a passenger on board a 5 June Emirates flight to Brisbane from Dubai who was infected with the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19, but this has not yet been confirmed.

Anyone who has visited Close Contact Venues must quarantine immediately and contact health authorities by completing the online contact tracing form or by calling 134 COVID (134 268).

• DFO, Saturday 19 June, 4.00 pm to 4.30 pm
• Portuguese Family Centre, Ellen Grove, Saturday 19 June, 7.00 pm to 7.50 pm

Because it has been less than 24 hours since potential exposure to the woman, people who could possibly be infected may not be showing symptoms yet – which is why it’s so important to quarantine if you have been to these venues around the same time.

Health authorities will advise you when to get tested and how long you need to quarantine for.

The woman also visited Brisbane CBD on Saturday 19 June, 5.00 pm to 6.00 pm. Those who were in the city at this time are not required to isolate but are requested to monitor carefully for symptoms over the next two weeks and get tested if symptomatic, no matter how mild.

A reminder that if you have been to any of the exposure sites listed on the Queensland Health contact tracing website you are obligated to follow the advice relating to that exposure site. You should complete the contact tracing form by clicking on the name for the relevant location in the table or call 134COVID (13 42 68) which will trigger the relevant contact tracing response.

Remember, if you are required to quarantine, you must continue to quarantine regardless of the result of COVID-19 tests until advised by health authorities. Check online for your nearest COVID-19 fever clinic or testing location.

VISITOR RESTRICTIONS

This case is a reminder that there are standing restrictions for hospital visitors.  People who are in quarantine or have been determined to be a close contact must not enter, or remain at, any of our facilities except as a patient of the hospital.  This includes hospital staff.

The relevant part of the  Hospital Visitors Direction (No. 20), is paragraph 7.

This is nothing new to what we already have in place across our facilities, but please let this be a reminder to be diligent.

QUEENSLAND TRAVEL DECLARATION 

A new requirement came into effect this weekend whereby all people arriving in Queensland from interstate or New Zealand will need to complete a travel declaration. The Premier has announced this is a permanent change, so we all need to get used to this! Declarations can be made up to 72 hours prior to travelling to Queensland.

The type of Queensland Travel Declaration you need depends on where you have been in the last 14 days.

If you have been to a COVID-19 hotspot, or a state or territory that has a declared COVID-19 hotspot, your travel declaration will need to be on a Queensland Border Declaration Pass.  This is because there are restrictions in place for people travelling from declared COVID-19 hotspots.

The travel declaration website will direct you to the correct declaration appropriate to your circumstances.

ASTRAZENECA VACCINE

The AstraZeneca vaccine is now the recommended vaccine for people in Australia aged 60 and over. This was announced by the Australian Government, meaning that Pfizer is the preferred vaccine for anyone aged 16 to 59.

For those under the age of 60 that have already had their first dose of AstraZeneca – it is safe and recommended to proceed with the second dose when it is due.

Kind regards,

Dr Liz Rushbrook
Metro North Incident Controller

Metro North HHS – overview of cases*

HHS	Patients being managed by HHS						FEVER Clinics
	Total In-patients			Virtual Ward / HITH / or similar	Deaths **	Total cases managed by HHS (including recovered) ***	# of clinics	Presentations
		ICU Pts
		ICU-NOT Ventilated	ICU-Ventilated					Last 24 hrs	TOTAL^
MN TOTAL	8	0	0	0	4	577	4	366	185,242
Vaccinations delivered by Metro North Health
19/06/21	2948			Total Delivered		102766

* As at 20/06/2021 1330
** Metro North has four recorded deaths (one person a return traveller into NSW, who passed away in NSW)
*** These numbers reflect the cases being managed by Metro North.