Calls to postpone NRL grand final after three COVID-19 scares in Brisbane

A leading epidemiologist has urged authorities to postpone the NRL grand final following reports of three new local infections in Brisbane.

A guesthouse in South Brisbane is under police guard in response to fears of a third COVID-19 case in the state just hours after a mystery infection was announced.

The situation at Adalong Guesthouse has escalated fears in Queensland, following a male aviation worker being confirmed on Monday night as a new infection and subsequent reports from Sky News the man’s partner is also infected.

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The new cases has plunged doubt on the marquee NRL event, scheduled to be played on Sunday night, which epidemiologist Professor Mary-Louise McLaws warned could be a “superspreader” event.

The leading expert said Queensland’s languishing vaccine rate would leave the state vulnerable for widespread infection.

“I would postpone it or stop it, stop people from attending it because it really is a flashpoint,” she told Channel 9’s Today on Tuesday morning.

“We saw the same sort of thing in Melbourne as well.

“They have done so much work in places like Queensland to keep it out but this may be a tipping point for it to get into their community while they are trying to get the vaccines up.

“Yes, it is an important event, but weighing it as an outbreak manager, you would be saying why risk this?”

The fears at the student guesthouse in South Brisbane is separate to the case reported on Monday night in the city’s north, forcing more than a dozen people into isolation.

Images shows police tape surrounding the entrance to the guesthouse.

The Adalong Guesthouse and Queensland Health have been contacted for comment.

Following revelations of a new infection on Monday night, parents from the Mother Duck Childcare and Kindergarten in Eatons Hill were urged to get tested after the facility was listed as a casual contact venue, while a McDonald’s drive through in Albany Creek was listed as low risk.

Health authorities were most concerned about a retail store in Rocklea, Seats ‘R’ Us, which was listed as close contact venue.

Anyone who visited the shop on Friday between 11.15am and 11.45am is ordered to get tested immediately and isolate for 14 days regardless of a test result.

Health authorities are scrambling to trace the first infection which was revealed on Monday night as a man in his 30s who works in the aviation industry.

But, despite his profession, he had not travelled interstate or overseas recently, creating a mystery for contact tracers.

“We urge all Queenslanders to check the contact tracing website and follow the health advice if you’ve been to any of these locations,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk posted to Facebook on Monday night.