One new locally-acquired case of COVID-19 has been detected in Queensland today, as health authorities probe concerns a specific patient room within the Princess Alexandra Hospital may be to blame for the recent outbreaks.
Today's new case is a close contact of a positive case linked to the North Brisbane cluster.
The man has been in quarantine since March 27, after being identified as a close contact due to having visited the Black Hops Brewery on the Gold Coast seven days prior.
He was tested as a close contact of a confirmed case and initially returned a negative result, but has since tested positive.
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Chief Health Officer Dr Jeanette Young said the man posed "no risk" to the community as he had been in quarantine for his entire infectious period.
"The good news is that the lockdown has served its purpose in that the people we were tracing had been able to be quarantined before they were infectious, which is exactly the purpose in which we sought to have the lockdown," Queensland's Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said.
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There have also been two new cases detected in hotel quarantine, both of which are believed to be historical infections.
The results come from 25,837 COVID-19 tests conducted across Queensland in the past 24 hours.
In further good news for the state, 11 coronavirus patients were discharged from hospital in the past 24 hours, with 74 still remaining.
"But 74, of course, is still very high, and we are looking after those people in our hospital system currently," Ms D'Ath said.
Health authorities in Brisbane contine to investigate how doctors and nurses at the Princess Alexandra Hospital were infected by their patients, Dr Young today revealing there were particular concerns around a specific room within the isolation ward.
The Chief Health Officer said that the two COVID-19 patients who infected hospital staff both stayed in the same room within Ward 5D of the hospital, one after the other.
"We think there could be a problem with that particular room or the environment around that room," Dr Young said.
No new coronavirus cases are being admitted to the PA Hospital while that investigation takes place.
Testing of hospital staff has also been increased, with all frontline staff working directly with COVID-19 patients to be tested at the start of every shift, in the same way as those working inside quarantine hotels.
Dr Young said that up until now, this was thought unnecessary as medical staff were highly trained in the correct use of PPE but new, more infectious strains now made it necessary.
