Contact tracing — coronavirus (COVID-19)
Please note that public contact tracing alerts are removed after 14 days as they are no longer applicable.
Advice for passengers arriving on any flights with a confirmed case of COVID-19
All travellers arriving into Queensland from interstate or overseas are required to self-quarantine for 14 days (unless you are an exempt person). This applies to all travellers, even if you have no symptoms. Please follow the advice provided to you at the airport.
If you develop symptoms during your quarantine period, you must call your GP or 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84). For severe symptoms, such as shortness of breath at rest or difficulty breathing, dial 000.
Contact tracing for coronavirus (COVID-19)
As soon as an individual returns a positive result for COVID-19, just like with other contagious viruses such as measles, we undertake what is called contact tracing to prevent the infection spreading further through the community.
As part of this process, we speak to the patient to identify anyone who might have had close contact with them during their infectious window.
If there are people who are considered as close contacts, who are at a higher risk, our staff follow up with them directly. If they begin showing symptoms, we assess them faster and take the right action.
If we can’t identify people who could have been in close contact with a confirmed case, we will issue a public health alert with specific dates, times and locations that the public should be aware of. Only people who match the exact criteria provided need to contact us.
Close contact
Close contacts are those who have had face-to-face contact in any setting with a confirmed or probable case for more than 15 minutes in total over the course of a week. For example, having three chats of five minutes each over seven days is considered 15 minutes total contact.
It also includes people who have shared an enclosed space with a confirmed or probable case for more than two hours.
This contact period is counted from 48 hours before the start of the person’s symptoms.
We are not looking for people the person may have passed on the street or in a shop, as the risk in these situations is extremely low.
If you have been in close contact with someone who is a confirmed case of COVID-19 you need to self-quarantine for 14 days from your last contact with them. If you become unwell during that period, see a doctor immediately.