Aged care worker tests positive for coronavirus in Queensland – and it all links back to the infected mates who allegedly lied their way into the state from Melbourne
- An aged care worker in her 30s has tested positive for COVID-19 in Queensland
- The woman worked at Bolton Clarke Aged Care in Brisbane's southwest
- She is the wife of a man, 27, in Bellbird Park who also tested positive on Friday
- Both cases are linked to two young woman who allegedly snuck into Queensland
An aged care worker has tested positive for COVID-19, Queensland's Health Minister Steven Miles has confirmed.
The woman, aged in her 30s is the wife of a Bellbird Park man, 27, who also tested positive for the virus yesterday.
Both cases are linked to the two young women who allegedly snuck across the border after lying to authorities.
The Bolton Clarke Aged Care facility at Pinjarra Hills in Brisbane's southwest has been locked down following the positive test and there are fears other workers and residents could be at risk.
'We are working with them (the aged care facility) to keep all residents safe,' Mr Miles said.
Diana Lasu, 21, and Olivia Winnie Muranga, 19, allegedly lied on their border declarations about where they had been when they arrived in Brisbane from Melbourne via Sydney on July 21.
Olivia Winnie Muranga (left) and Diana Lasu, (right) both 19, arrived together in Brisbane from Melbourne via Sydney on July 21
Days later they felt sick but carried on working, socialising and visiting restaurants and cocktail bars while waiting for their test results - which came back positive.
The aged care worker's husband is believed to have caught the virus from relatives who visited the Madtongsan IV Korean restaurant at Sunnybank on July 23, when one of the women was there.
The pair at the centre of the new COVID-19 cluster, along with another 21-year-old woman Haja Timbo, have been charged with one count each of providing false or misleading documents and fraud over their alleged lies to authorities when they arrived in Brisbane.
The aged care worker is now the third case of community transmission linked to the cluster, after one of the sisters of one of the woman charged tested positive earlier this week.
Community transmission had been eradicated in the state for two months before those infections.
Queenslanders arrive at a COVID-19 screening clinic at the Parklands Christian College in Logan, Queensland, Australia, 29 July 2020. The school has been temporarily closed after an employee tested positive for COVID-19
The state's Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young says it's possible the woman was infectious when she worked her last shift at the aged care facility.
'I know that the facility is organising ways for residents to talk to their families,' Dr Young said.
'We'll see what happens over the next week or so.'
All residents and staff at the facility will now undergo testing.
'She and her husband have been absolutely model citizens, they really and truly have been unbelievably fantastic,' Dr Young said.
She is now working with authorities to determine all the locations she has been to while infectious.
More to come.
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