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CANBERRA: Australia on Saturday (March 13) recorded the first local case of COVID-19 in more than two weeks after a doctor tested positive for the coronavirus, prompting restrictions on area hospitals.
Queensland State Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the anonymous doctor last week treated two patients who had recently returned to Australia and had tested positive for the UK variant.
“We know that this doctor, who tested these two COVID-positive patients, was in the hospital at the time. Now, she developed symptoms,” Palaszczuk told reporters in the state capital, Brisbane. It was Australia’s first local infection since February 24.
The doctor, whose name was not released, treated the patients, forcing authorities to seek urgent contacts, Palaszczuk said. Authorities have yet to determine how many people the doctor treated.
As officials seek to determine the size of the outbreak, Palaszczuk said, all hospitals in the state capital will be closed to visitors.
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Australia has reported just over 29,000 coronavirus infections and 909 deaths from COVID-19, far fewer than many developed countries, helped by international border closures, lockdowns and strict social distancing rules.
In neighboring New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Saturday that the country will reopen its borders for the first time to allow entry to residents of Niue, a small Pacific country.
They will not have to be quarantined upon arrival starting March 24, Arden said.
“Niue has not reported COVID-19 cases and its strict border controls mean that we can be confident that it is safe to begin a quarantine-free trip to New Zealand from Niue,” Ardern said in an emailed statement.
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