UPDATE: Police in Brisbane say that reports of a man who held a party for 25 people while infectious with COVID are incorrect, and that a QLD Health media release containing this information was inaccurate.
In a health advice issued overnight, QLD Health said that the man from the city’s north “hosted a gathering of around 25 people at his home between being instructed to isolate and getting his positive test results.”
Police now say that this information was wrong. It now appears that there were only five people at his house, some of whom were entitled to be there, and that the event would not be classified as a party.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath now says there may have been a “misunderstanding” with regards to the information given by the man, telling media:
“I understand that as time has gone on overnight, there has been a further investigation, independent investigation from what the gentleman had said, whether it was a misunderstanding at the time or what it was, I cannot tell you.”
“But that is what the Health officials who originally spoke to this gentleman, when they first picked him up, that is what they understood had been said and that had to be acted on quickly. And the police have independently investigated and of course, the gentleman has been cooperative with all of the contact tracing and it has been clarified that the people that were there are predominantly residents.”
“It was important information that we put out, based on the facts we had at the time, because if we had not, and that had gone out in some other way, then we would not be transparent about what we knew. We were told at the time there were 25 people who attended … we needed to investigate, track those 25 people down and get them into quarantine. “
“What we’ve identified through the investigation and what police have found and Health have found is thankfully, it was not 25 people.”
Queensland has recorded one new community case of COVID in the past 24 hours.
This case is the brother of a Stafford man who tested positive earlier in the week, and serology suggests he had COVID-19 but recovered, suggesting he might be the missing link between this case and the PA Hospital outbreak.
EARLIER: Brisbane residents are on edge today and fearful of another lockdown, after reports that a man ignored instructions to isolate and threw a house party for 25 people while awaiting a COVID test result that turned out to be positive.
The man, from the north Brisbane suburb of Strathpine, contracted the UK strain of COVID from a male friend in Stafford. He hosted a large group of friends in his home despite being told to isolate while awaiting his test results.
Queensland Health say that the unnamed man, aged in his 20s, received a positive test result on Friday night, and that around 25 people who attended the party have been ordered to isolate.
The Strathpine man visited at least 15 venues in the northern and eastern suburbs of Brisbane while infected. Along with the nine venues visited by the Stafford man, there are now 24 venues that are considered possible exposure sites.
A list of sites visited by the man can be seen here, via Queensland Health. Anyone who visited one of the listed venues, including BWS and Dan Murphy’s bottle shops in Strathpine, is instructed to get tested for COVID today.
Masks have not yet been mandated in greater Brisbane, although health authorities have advised people to wear them in crowded places.
⚠️ Public Health Alert: Brisbane and Moreton Bay regions ⚠️
Queensland Health is issuing a Public Health Alert following one new locally acquired case of #COVID19
For further details please visit: https://t.co/xrF1h6fRFy pic.twitter.com/SYyCZEaHA2
— Queensland Health (@qldhealth) March 27, 2021
