Brisbane is on high alert after a new community case of Covid-19 was detected. Photo / 123RF
Brisbane is on high alert after a new community case of Covid-19 was detected. Photo / 123RF
A new locally transmitted case of Covid-19 has been detected in Queensland and authorities are scrambling to trace the source of infection.
The 26 year old man has been infectious in the community since last Friday and visited numerous venues. He has been hospitalised after being diagnosed last night.
Almost100 suburbs across Brisbane have been put on high alert after traces of coronavirus were found in sewage water samples.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said health alerts would be issued throughout the day and venues of concern would be notified.
Palaszczuk said she was concerned people in Queensland had stopped taking basic safety precautions and urged residents not to be complacent. "We really need people to social distance and the other thing is coming back is everyone is doing handshakes again," she said.
"Please we're still in the midst of a pandemic. Now is not the time to break our social good hand hygiene and the handshakes. I am sorry everyone but we need to abide by these things if we are going to get through this."
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Photo / Getty Images
Queensland's Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said she was "very grateful" to the Stafford man, who she identified as a landscaper, and said he'd been moved to Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital on Thursday night.
Young said that the man had not been overseas and his family and housemates were now in quarantine. While the man had stayed home since becoming sick, Young said he had been quite active in the community prior to the onset of symptoms.
From midday, aged care homes, hospitals and prisons will be closed to visitors across Brisbane City and Moreton council areas. Authorities are undertaking genome sequencing to determine the strain of the virus.
