Advertisement

Qld police nab hotel quarantine escapee

Queensland police have arrested a woman accused of illegally entering the state and then breaking out of hotel quarantine.

The 24-year-old fled from a quarantine hotel on the Gold Coast on Tuesday after forcing open a glass door.

Police say she entered Queensland despite the border being closed and the fact she’d recently been in a COVID-19 hotspot in NSW.

Officers finally found her on Saturday afternoon at Caboolture, north of Brisbane, after receiving a tip from a member of the public.

She is now assisting police with their inquiries.

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young hopes the risk of the woman spreading COVID-19 in Queensland is low.

“She’s already tested negative once,” Dr Young told reporters before the woman was located and detained.

She has urged anyone in border-zone communities to get tested if they develop any symptoms.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said it was alarming that southerners who’ve been in coronavirus hotspots are continuing to enter Queensland in defiance of health orders.

“If you turn up at the border without the proper exemptions you will end up in hotel quarantine,” she told would-be travellers from NSW and Victoria.

“There is no point getting in your car and trying to come into Queensland if you don’t have the right border pass.”

Queensland police intercepted more than 10,000 vehicles on Saturday to make sure cross-border travellers have the right passes, and to ensure people are only moving around during the current lockdown for officially approved reasons.

-AAP

Advertisement
Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter.
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.