the hospital worker who triggered queensland's three-day lockdown was not required to be vaccinated despite working at a ward in covid
An unvaccinated hospital worker at a Covid-19 ward who sparked a three-day lockdown of millions did nothing wrong, a report has found.
Queenslanders were sent into a snap three-day lockdown when the 19-year-old concierge became infected with the Delta variant and then travelled with her family to the state's far north.
The woman, who worked outside the coronavirus ward of Brisbane's Prince Charles Hospital, was not required to be vaccinated at the time.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was 'absolutely furious' when news of the woman's infection first broke.
'She should have been vaccinated, she was not,' she said on June 30. 'So the health minister will be overseeing that issue in detail.'
A 19-year-old unvaccinated concierge who worked outside a Covid ward at Brisbane's Prince Charles Hospital was not required to be vaccinated in her role, an investigation has found
The young woman was diagnosed on June 29 having been infectious in the community for about 10 days. How he caught the virus is still a mystery.
She worked two shifts as a concierge at the hospital before taking a family holiday to Magnetic Island, near Townsville in North Queensland.
An investigation into how the woman was allowed to work in close proximity to a Covid ward while unvaccinated, handed down on Monday, found that under the relevant health direction, she was not required to be vaccinated.
The report was handed to the Queensland Government by Associate Professor Paul Griffin and Katherine Taylor.
They found the concierge left her desk and the ward area whenever coronavirus patients were transferred into the ward, as part of its Covid-safe requirements.
The report also stated she did not enter the Covid ward, or provide any care to Covid-positive patients.
The investigation found staff within both the hospital and the ward complied with all requirements under the health direction.
The young woman's movements before she was diagnosed with the Delta variant sparked a three-day lockdown across the south-east of Queensland (pictured, Brisbane during the lockdown) and in Townsville, Magnetic and Palm islands
The 19-year-old woman's movements around Queensland while infectious, causing a snap three-day lockdown in the state in late June
Professor Griffin and Ms Taylor made recommendations to improve infection controls in hospitals with Covid wards.
These included limiting entry points to the wards, mandating vaccination for all workers in proximity to a Covid ward, and tighter restrictions on who can swipe into the wards.
'Our view is it should go further. Our recommendation is we should be vaccinating everyone in Covid hospitals,' Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said at a press conference on Monday.
She said 77 percent of workers in Queensland's Covid hospitals were already fully vaccinated, including health staff, cleaners, clerical staff, and security.
How the woman was infected by a Covid-positive person inside the ward remains a mystery, and chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said the source of the transmission may never be known.
'There are only three people involved in the event - the original case from overseas who was being managed in the ward, then the receptionist who sat outside the ward, and she passed it on to one family member,' she said.
'But despite a lot of testing all through the Prince Charles Hospital and through Magnetic Island and Townsville and other exposure venues, we didn't find any other cases.
'I firmly believe that anyone working in our hospitals should be vaccinated against Covid. We haven't been able to do it as quickly as I wanted because of a slow rollout of supply.'
Marlin Bar on Magnetic Island was one of many exposure sites identified after the young woman's holiday in the area
People in cars queued for Covid tests in Townsville after the concierge worker's trip to the area sent the area into lockdown in late June
The investigation found the young concierge recalled being advised that vaccination was optional for her role, though she told the hospital she intended to be vaccinated against Covid in the future.
The young worker's holiday while infectious caused a three-day lockdown that covered 11 local government areas in the state's south-east plus Townsville and Magnetic and Palm islands.
Her movements created a long list of exposure sites named in Townsville, Magnetic Island and the Sandgate area of Brisbane, as fears grew the Delta strain would run rampant.
Queensland has had no active cases of locally acquired Covid for more than 20 days and, as a result, many restrictions were eased last Friday, including 100 people being allowed in homes and no limit on people gathering in public spaces.