Qld police hunt hotel quarantine escapee
A woman who illegally entered Queensland from a NSW hotspot remains on the run four days after breaking out of hotel quarantine.
The 24-year-old escaped from the Gold Coast hotel where she was being held on Tuesday.
She took her mobile phone but abandoned all of her other possessions and so far police have been unable to find her.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young has expressed concern but hopes the risk of the woman spreading COVID-19 in Queensland is low.
"She's already tested negative once. Police will find her and then we'll be able to test her again," Dr Young told reporters on Saturday.
She said anyone in border zone communities must get tested if they develop any symptoms.
Police have appealed for public help to find the woman, who was forced into hotel quarantine after being intercepted at a border check point last Saturday.
She forced open a glass door to escape her quarantine room. She remains on the run despite family and friends being grilled about her whereabouts.
It's believed she may be in the Caboolture or Narangba area, north of Brisbane.
"Please give yourself up," Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski told the woman during Saturday's daily coronavirus briefing.
"She does not want to be caught. Unfortunately in policing we deal with these fugitive situations a lot."
Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said it was alarming that southerners who've been in coronavirus hotspots are continuing to enter Queensland in defiance of health orders.
"If you turn up at the border without the proper exemptions you will end up in hotel quarantine," she told would-be travellers from NSW and Victoria.
"There is no point getting in your car and trying to come into Queensland if you don't have the right border pass."
Queensland police intercepted more than 10,000 vehicles on Saturday to make sure cross-border travellers have the right passes, and to ensure people are only moving around during the current lockdown for valid reasons.
