Gold Coast beautician who sparked a mass coronavirus scare when she treated up to 40 customers after contracting COVID-19 in Iran - as her salon is forced to close because of abusive trolls
- Beautician came down with coronavirus after flying home to Queensland
- Roya Ovisi had travelled home from Iran and had no symptoms until Thursday
- She came down with a fever while working at a Gold Coast salon last week
- Staff have closed the doors of Hair Plus at Australia Fair for a fortnight
- A regular customer said the company had been trolled over the virus
'She did everything right': Beautician Roya Ovisi is 'feeling OK' and is in a stable condition in hospital, after she came down with coronavirus symptoms at work
A salon where a coronavirus-infected beautician unknowingly treated up to 40 patients before testing positive for the disease has closed its doors after a barrage of abuse from trolls.
Gold Coast woman Roya Ovisi flew home from virus-hit Iran last Tuesday and was not suffering any COVID-19 symptoms when she returned to work two days later.
But she came down with a fever at Hair Plus at Australia Fair about 4pm that day, told her boss, took herself home and then straight to hospital - leading authorities to call customers to come forward.
The beauty salon said in a statement that it had been cleared by Queensland Health - but decided to shut down for a fortnight anyway.
'We have decided to close our business for the next 14 days due to the recent case of coronavirus,' management said.
'Despite being cleared by the Queensland Health, we have made this decision in the best interest of our clients, staff and the community.'
A regular customer told Daily Mail Australia the decision to close the store followed online harassment - in a striking example of coronavirus panic spreading through the nation.
Scroll down for video
The shutters were down at the Hair and Beauty Plus store at Australia Fair on the Gold Coast on Monday, after as many as 40 clients were urged to go to hospital for testing
Staff told one customer Ms Ovisi was 'very unwell but OK' ... 'she won't be back at work for some time' after being struck down by the coronavirus
In another instance, several supermarkets across the country have sold out of essentials including toilet paper and handwash, with one customers spotted stockpiling packets of 48 rolls at warehouse store Costco.
Australia has slapped China and Iran - where several other infected patients have travelled from - with travel bans for non-citizens. The Federal government is considering extending the ban to Italy and South Korea, the prime minister said on Tuesday.
-
Up to FORTY people could have been exposed to coronavirus... Government BANS foreigners coming to Australia from Iran... 
Coronavirus scare in Sydney as man returning from Iran tests... 
Student exchange company is slammed for 'irresponsible'... -
'Nothing can stop it now': Dire coronavirus warning as two...
Share this article
At the Gold Coast, staff at the Hair Plus store reassured a customer that Ms Ovisi - one of at least 10 coronavirus patients in Queensland - was 'doing OK' but was 'unwell'.
'She has been overseas and she's been diagnosed with the coronavirus and she's in hospital,' the company representative said.
'She's OK, but she won't be back at work for quite some time.'
The company declined to comment when approached this week.
Ms Ovisi's daughter-in-law, Maryam, said: 'Roya is doing well, thanks for asking'. Friends described her as a 'very intelligent' woman from a 'good family, with very good manners'.
Her son is an accomplished Queensland doctor who has worked at GP clinics around the state.
Health officials said Ms Ovisi 'did everything right' in taking herself to hospital at the first sign she was not well. Officials have confirmed she is in a stable condition in the isolation ward of Gold Coast University Hospital.
The woman worked at Hair and Beauty Plus salon at Australia Fair Shopping Centre (pictured) at Southport on the Gold Coast
Coronavirus alert: The health warning the Queensland government issued last week about Hair Plus
Queensland Health issued an online alert calling on people who were treated at the clinic last Thursday to go to hospital for testing as a precaution. Daily Mail Australia understands no customer has tested positive to the virus.
CORONAVIRUS: PANIC BUYING AT SUPERMARKETS
A woman loads up her trolley with 48-pack rolls of toilet paper at Costco
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he consulted with the nation's biggest supermarkets in the wake of panic purchases of products including toilet paper and hand sanitiser.
Shoppers have shared photos of cleared aisles in Coles and Woolworths and images emerged of Costco shoppers clearing the shelves of huge packs of toilet paper.
Mr Morrison said healthcare giant Kimberley-Clark has fired up its South Australian factory to manufacture toilet tissue.
'I'm sure that will come as a great relief to everybody,' he said.
The state's chief medical officer, Dr Jeannette Young, described Ms Ovisi as a 'highly intelligent, very sensitive lady.'
'She did everything perfectly, you couldn't have asked more of her,' Dr Young said.
'She came back from Iran, she was perfectly well on the flight back into Australia and up to the Gold Coast, and then a couple of days later she developed some symptoms.'
Dr Young said the risk to her clients 'incredibly low' due to her brief interactions. She said there was no need for anyone else at the shopping centre at the same time to be concerned.
Professor Brendon Murphy, the nation's Chief Medical Officer, has announced Australia can no longer expect to keep the disease out of the country with travel bans - just to slow it down.
'It is no longer possible to absolutely prevent new cases coming in,' Prof Murphy said on Monday.
Prof Murphy said the Iran outbreak was considered high risk, and the travel ban was considered an effective strategy to slow the spread of the disease.
But he said outbreaks in Italy and South Korea were not considered as risky as Iran's as they were contained and localised.
'In the case of Iran, it's such a high risk that a travel ban is worth doing because it will slow down the number of cases,' Prof Murphy said.
'In Italy and South Korea, where they have large outbreaks but they are confined and (have) been localised, the risk, the proportionality of putting in a travel ban was not justified in terms of its benefits to the health protection of the Australian community.'
Authorities have also confirmed its first person-to-person transmission of the illness, in New South Wales from a patient to a doctor.
Comments 0
Share what you think
No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.
