Queensland has recorded six new cases of COVID-19 overnight, with one of those cases locally acquired.
Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said the local case, who is a student nurse, was linked to the existing Alpha cluster.
“She is a close contact of the man that we reported yesterday from Sinnamon Park (in Brisbane),” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“She lives at Kangaroo Point and she is in home quarantine at the moment.”
This news comes after Queensland recorded four locally acquired cases of COVID-19 on Monday, with all of the cases linked to the Greek Orthodox Community Centre cluster.
READ MORE: Greek Orthodox Community of St George in Brisbane’s exposure sites.
Emergence of the cluster:
The cluster emerged last week when a mother, who is an administration employee within the St George Greek Orthodox Parish and Community respite team, tested positive. She had been been working at the Administration building on Browning Street in South Brisbane at the time.
“The person was symptomatic on Tuesday morning and immediately self-isolated as per Government regulations and was subsequently tested,” the St George Parish and Community said in a media release at the time.
“Areas where she worked remain closed and are being deep cleaned, and the person’s network of friends, colleagues and respite users are being contacted together with the respite service users during the relevant period.”
Since then, Chief Health Officer, Jeannette Young, has said the Greek community centre cluster is linked to the Portuguese Family Centre cluster, which spread when a flight attendant contracted the virus while in hotel quarantine and spent time in the community while unknowingly infectious.
On Monday, Young indicated that over 23 COVID-19 cases have now been linked to the clusters.
Greek Orthodox priests in South Brisbane mandated to isolate at home:
In a Facebook post on July 3, Father Dimitri Tsakas from the St George Greek Orthodox Church in South Brisbane confirmed that he, along with Father Stavros and many of his co-workers, were mandated by Queensland Health to home isolate and quarantine.
“Fr Stavros and I will isolate for the mandatory period, meaning we should be back on board Wednesday 14 July. In the meantime we cannot leave home for any purpose, including Pastoral callouts or Services,” Father Dimitri wrote in the post.
“We accept the decision with gratitude in the interest of keeping everyone safe and healthy.”
The parish priest went on to say the administration building will be “deep cleaned in accordance with Health Department directives.”
The church will also be open to the public this Sunday, July 11 for services. Fr George Papoutsakis will conduct the service.
READ MORE: QLD records four new COVID-19 cases, all linked to Greek Orthodox Community Centre cluster.
