Aged care nurse at QLD Government-run Rockhampton home tests positive for coronavirus – rapid response team deployed

The 115-bed state-owned and operated North Rockhampton Nursing Centre has gone into lockdown with extensive contact tracing underway after the nurse tested positive at 8pm on Thursday night. The state’s Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young says the nurse is believed to have contracted the virus during a recent trip to Brisbane.

“The first thing that’s happening is that the aged care facility is immediately working to assess every single one of their residents, there are 115 in the facility, every single one of their staff, there are 180 healthcare workers who work in that facility, to make sure that today, none of them have the infection,” she said yesterday. “Then we will work with them (to discover) as to which of those staff members and residents need to immediately go into quarantine for 14 days.”

The woman had been infectious from 3 May and shown symptoms from 5 May, but had continued working with mild respiratory symptoms according to Dr Young which she labelled “very unfortunate”.

“We’re clarifying what exactly happened there,” she said. “I’m asking every single person who lives in Rockhampton who has any symptoms at all to immediately go forward, go and see their own GP or go to one of the fever clinics and get tested. That is really important. We need to see whether there are any other cases that have occurred in Rockhampton as a result of this particular individual.”

Rockhampton has had no new COVID-19 cases since 30 March – seven weeks ago – with that person considered recovered on 1 May. Health Minister, Steven Miles, says the result is “cause for some concern”.

“This just serves to underline that even after cities have long periods of time without active cases, things can turn very, very quickly,” he said.

Queensland had been one of the most aggressive states in closing its borders, even refusing entry to people from NSW’s Tweed Heads travelling to nearby Coolangatta. Interestingly, another Queensland case announced yesterday involved someone who had flown back to Sydney from overseas, completed their 14-day quarantine and then flown home to Brisbane – before testing positive. An indication that Nick Loudon’s warning that the virus can live for much longer in faeces than in respiratory system rings true.