Some passengers who flew from Brisbane to New Zealand are now being told to self-isolate, after a green zone breach in Australia.
The Ministry of Health was advised of a change of classification of some passengers by Queensland health authorities on Friday night.
Travellers who were at two locations of interest in Brisbane’s international terminal at specific times are now being treated as casual plus contacts, in relation to the green zone breach.
The locations of interest are Hudsons coffee stand and adjacent seating between 9:23am and 11:20am, on April 29 (Queensland time), and the male toilet adjacent to Gate 79 between 11:23am and 11:15pm, when the toilet was cleaned.
The three flights affected are: Air New Zealand NZ 202 from Brisbane to Christchurch which arrived around 4:30pm on Thursday; Air New Zealand NZ 146 from Brisbane to Auckland which arrived at 5:30pm Thursday; and Qantas QF 135 from Brisbane to Christchurch on Thursday.
While the health risk from the green zone breach is still considered low, as a precaution anyone at those locations is now urged to return home or to their accommodation, where they should self-isolate until they get a negative Covid-19 test result from a day five test on May 4.
Affected travellers are urged to contact Healthline on 0800 358 5453 and register as a casual plus contact.
The Ministry of Health’s contact tracing team will be contacting passengers on the three affected flights on Saturday.
Green zone breach: what happened?
The green zone breach is linked to two individuals from a red zone country.
Human error meant the passengers, who flew from Papua New Guinea, were incorrectly allowed to access the café and toilets.
Both areas were accessible to green zone passengers.
The two individuals were tested in Brisbane. One returned a negative result and the other returned a weak positive, which was confirmed by a second PCR test.
The Ministry of Health says the two red zone individuals wore masks, maintained social distancing, had very little interaction with others and have not been symptomatic.
About 390 passengers were on the affected flights, but only a small amount are believed to have been in the vicinity of the red zone passengers.
