The first case of the reportedly “more contagious” strain of coronavirus from South Africa has been detected in Australia.

An overseas traveller tested positive for the infamous South African strain of the virus upon arrival into Queensland. Thankfully, she was already in hotel quarantine at the time, so her risk to the general public remains virtually non-existent.

Following her positive result on December 22, she was immediately transferred to a local hospital to monitor her symptoms.

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Despite not being a threat to the public, the Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said that the case highlighted the importance of a strong mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine.

“The positive news – the good news about this individual – is that they were in hotel quarantine at the time they were tested and they have since been transferred to a hospital,” she said.

“We are absolutely confident that all proper measures were taken at the hotel and in the transfer and, of course, at the hospital in relation to this positive case.”

She also clarified that although we haven’t seen the South African strain on Aussie shores before, we have already dealt with the highly-contagious UK strain previously.
“We have seen other jurisdictions record a UK variant, but this is the first time the South African one has been identified in Australia.
“It is important people continue to get tested if they experience any symptoms at all.”
The news comes as Queensland recorded two new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, both from returned overseas travellers.
The South African strain of the coronavirus is widely believed to be even more contagious than the United Kingdom strain. South Africa’s variant is believed to be as much as 70% more contagious than the standard COVID-19 strain that we’ve been dealing with so far, according to 7 News.
As always, anyone who presents symptoms should immediately be tested for COVID-19 and self-isolate until they return a negative test result, especially those in hotspot areas.

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