A female FIFO who tested positive for the Delta strain on the Sunshine Coast has spoken out to allay people’s concerns about her movements, saying she did not mix in the community.
The woman, who says she lives in the Northern Territory, has revealed on Facebook how she acted quickly and responsibly as soon as she discovered there were concerns about FIFO workers.
Sunshine Coast News has chosen not to name the woman who was staying in Bli Bli.
It comes as masks and other restrictions will be reintroduced from 1am Tuesday, with Queensland on the “verge of a lockdown” and acting “quickly and fast” to contain an outbreak (more detail below).
The mine worker said she wanted to give people on the Sunshine Coast peace of mind that “at no time did I mix within your community”.
“These are the facts. I am the person involved,” wrote the woman in a group Facebook forum as she detailed her movements.
“Friday June 25th. Flew from Granites Gold Mine to Darwin. Caught a plane from Darwin to Brisbane. Caught a shuttle bus from Brisbane to residence in Bli Bli area.
“I wore a mask the whole time from Granites to the residence in Bli Bli including on the shuttle bus.
“At this point I had no symptoms and was unaware of the virus,” she wrote.
“Saturday 26th June. Left early from residence and travelled by car to Moura. I looked at my phone at this stage and found the notification from my worksite stating that a positive case had been confirmed and that all employees were to get tested immediately and quarantine themselves.
“I drove back to the residence in Bli Bli and quarantined.
“Sunday June 27. Went directly to Nambour Hospital wearing a mask for testing. Came directly back to Bli Bli and returned to quarantine. Once a positive result was confirmed I waited until an ambulance collected me from the residence and transported me to SCUH where I will be in isolation until a negative result is obtained after 14 days minimum.”
Queensland Health has updated its COVID exposure sites on the Coast to include Domino’s pizza in Maroochydore:
- Domino’s Pizza, Sunshine Homemaker Centre, 100 Maroochydore Road on Tuesday 22 June 2021 from 9.35pm to 9.40pm
- McDonald’s Glass House Mountains on June 22, 5.45am to 6am, and June 23, 6am to 6.15am.
Three people test positive
Three people tested positive in Queensland overnight, including a female FIFO worker who lives at Bli Bli and has the Delta variant.
The woman was among the 170 FIFOs who are being tracked down and tested from a mine in the Northern Territory.
Dr Jeannette Young praised the woman for acting quickly which meant she had only been in the community for one day before coming forward.
The Bli Bli woman had just embarked on a road trip with her family but turned around and returned home when she heard the news about the call to FIFO workers.
Dr Young said Queensland was facing an ‘enormous risk’ and urged everyone in the community with symptoms to get tested and a list of exposure sites would be released.
The other two overnight cases in Queensland included one linked to a Brisbane Portuguese restaurant and one overseas case in hotel quarantine.
These followed another Sunshine Coast-related case on Sunday which was the partner of an employee at the Brisbane Airport DFO.
The partner of that person works on the Sunshine Coast but the workplace has not yet been disclosed and may remain confidential.
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Restrictions and masks are back
Premier Anastacia Palaszczuk said Queensland was “on the verge of a lockdown” and was moving fast to mandate masks indoors and outdoors.
Queensland had to move fast to contain any further spread and the next 48 hours would be crucial.
“We are on the verge (of a lockdown), but we are monitoring, very, very closely over the next 24 to 48 hours,” she told reporters.
Mandatory mask wearing will come into effect in 11 local government areas including the Sunshine Coast, Noosa, Brisbane, Logan, Redlands, Moreton, Lockyer Valley, Somerset, Gold Coast, Scenic Rim and Ipswich.
Masks must be worn at all times other than while driving, at home or exercising and will be in place for two weeks.
“Let’s start wearing these masks, this is absolutely vital to stop this spread,” said Ms Palaszczuk.
Gatherings in the home will be limited to 30 people, including children.
Numbers at venues will be limited to 1 person per 4sqm, with no dancing, and people will have to be seated to eat and drink.
But there will be no changes to limits at ticketed and seated events after 56,000 successfully used the Queensland Health check-in App at the State of Origin on Sunday night.
Wedding and funerals will be restricted to 100 people with only 20 people allowed to dance at the former.
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“I know this is not ideal for everyone but we have got to act quickly,” she said.
Ms Palaszczuk urged all Queenslanders to use the Queensland Health Check-in App which would make an enormous difference to contact tracing and containing any further spread.
She said people should get vaccinated and get their second vaccine.
Ms Palaszczuk commented on the continuous arrival of overseas people into Australia and called for caps to be lowered.
She also reiterated calls for regional purpose built quarantine facilities to prevent further leaks from hotel quarantine.
Ms Palaszczuk also warned that Queensland could close the border with NSW if there was further community transmission.
“If we start seeing any spread of community transmission in NSW, especially closer to our border, We will not hesitate to take strong action,” she said.
Millions of people in NSW have endured the first day of a fortnight-long lockdown with residents of Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong ordered to stay at home until at least July 9.
