A coronavirus patient attended popular Brisbane nightspot Friday’s Riverside, it’s been revealed, as Queensland confirms two further cases.
The 22-year-old man, a University of Queensland student, was at the CBD bar for four hours on Saturday night.
He was confirmed as having the disease on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, a 32-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man, both from the Gold Coast, were diagnosed.
The woman recently travelled back from the United States, while the male patient is someone with whom she lives.
They are the 19th and 20th cases in the state.
The 22-year-old man recently returned from Italy, the coronavirus epicentre in Europe which has been placed into lockdown, Spain and France.
He went to classes at UQ’s St Lucia campus in Brisbane on Thursday and Friday last week.
Self-quarantine
His classmates and staff who may have had contact with him have been contacted by Queensland Health and may need to self-quarantine.
Friday’s patrons between 5pm and 9pm on Saturday have also been warned to be alert for symptoms.
“(He) had fleeting contact with a lot of different people (at Friday’s),” said Queensland chief medical officer Jeannette Young.
“They (patrons) don’t need to go into home quarantine.
“But they do need to be aware and alert if they develop any symptoms suggestive of an infection – any respiratory-type symptoms, or a fever – they should go and get themselves tested.”
She said the patrons were in a different situation to the man’s classmates because the former were unlikely to have had 15 minutes of “close contact”.
“That’s why those students at the University of Queensland are being asked to go into home quarantine,” Young said.
“There are a significant number who spent more than two hours in the one room with the student who turned out to be positive.”
Nightclub response
Friday’s said in a statement it will continue to trade as normal after liaising with Queensland Health.
“With the health and safety of our customers and team members in mind, we closed Friday’s temporarily and conducted a deep clean and decontamination of the venue as a precaution,” a spokesman said.
“We will continue to assess the situation in partnership with the local health department, but currently no further action is advised for patrons who may have been at the venue and Friday’s continues to trade as normal.”
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