COVID-19: Western Australia’s borders to remain open to Queensland following Brisbane case

WA’s border will remain open to Queensland following a COVID-19 scare, but recent arrivals from the Sunshine State who visited one of nine exposure sites have been ordered to self-isolate for two weeks.

The WA Government’s announcement comes after it today emerged a 26-year-old man was infectious with coronavirus in Brisbane for a week before he tested positive on Thursday.

Health officials in Queensland are uncertain how he was exposed to the virus and have locked down hospitals, aged care facilities, prisons and disability services for the next three days.

This is the first test of how the re-elected McGowan Government will manage WA’s borders since Labor’s history-making election victory on March 13.

In a statement, the Government said travellers from Queensland who visited the following locations since March 20 should get tested and self-isolate for 14 days from the time they were at the high-risk location:

BRISBANE'S POTENTIAL COVID-19 EXPOSURE SITES

Visitors to the following venues at the specified times must isolate for 14 days and get tested:

Saturday, March 20

* Westfield Carindale Shopping Centre, Carindale, 11am-12pm

* Baskin Robbins, Everton Park, 8pm

Sunday, March 21

* Gasworks, Newstead, 8am-9am

* Mama's Italian restaurant, Redcliffe, 12.20pm

Monday, March 22

* Worked as a landscaper, Paddington

* Guzman y Gomez (Drive Through), Stafford City Shopping Centre, 12.30pm

* Bunnings, Stafford, 1pm

Tuesday, March 23 - Wednesday, March 24

* Self-isolated at home

Thursday, March 25

* Tested at Nundah Village Family Practice, Nundah

* Aldi, Stafford

WA’s Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson is in contact with his Queensland counterpart and will provide updated advice if further action is required.

“Based on health advice, anyone who has visited these specific locations must go and be tested immediately and self-quarantine for 14 days from the time they were at the high-risk location,” Premier Mark McGowan said.

“Western Australia has been free from community transmission for more than 11 months and we want to keep it that way.

“We’re closely watching the situation and will get up-to-date health advice to ensure we are doing everything we need to do to keep WA safe.

“People need to heed the health advice which has kept us safe. We need to stay the course.

“Thanks to our controlled border, we have the systems in place to help protect the community and adjust border controls if that is what is required.”

Health Minister Roger Cook added: “We always stand ready to act swiftly and cautiously to protect Western Australia.

“We thank everyone for their patience as we work through this current situation.

“But it is important that anyone who has been to these locations or develops symptoms is tested and self-quarantines to protect the wider community.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the 26-year-old, from north-suburban Stafford, tested positive on Thursday and visited at least nine different venues across the city after he became infectious last Friday.

Everyone in the Brisbane City and Moreton Bay council areas were urged to wear masks in crowded places and socially distance.

“It is absolutely imperative over the next few days if you are sick and unwell to stay home and go get tested, it is absolutely critical we do this over the next two to three days,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said the man is being treated in Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. His housemates in Stafford are all self-isolating and getting tested.

The man was working as a landscaper in Paddington on Monday when he started feeling ill.

“Anyone who’s been to any of these venues during those specific timeframes, I want you to come forward and get tested, whether or not you’ve got symptoms, and to remain in isolation until you get a negative result,” Dr Young said.

The man visited Aldi at Stafford on the day he was tested for COVID-19 but before he had got his result. Dr Young brushed off concerns he hadn’t followed health advice, saying he had only “popped in” to the store briefly.

She said it was too early to know how many people have potentially been exposed but contact tracers are working with venues to track them down.

“I don’t know where he’s got it from, and that person he’s got it from could also be out and about in our community spreading infection,” Dr Young warned.

She said the case could be linked to a doctor at Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital who tested positive two weeks ago but genomic test results are not yet available.

The doctor worked a shift at the hospital and visited four venues in the city’s south while she was infectious.