Seventeen Cairns suburbs have been put on high alert after traces of the COVID-19 virus was found in a sewage catchment.
Cairns currently has no cases of COVID-19 and has only recorded 35 since the pandemic began, while Queensland has just 14 active cases currently.
Queensland Health says fragments of the virus have been detected in sewage at the Cairns North Wastewater Treatment Plant in a sample taken on November 17.
The wastewater plant serves the Aeroglen, Barron, Brinsmead, Cairns City, Cairns North, Edge Hill, Freshwater, Holloways Beach, Kamerunga, Machans Beach, Manoora, Manunda, Parramatta Park, Portsmith, Redlynch, Stratford and Whitfield
“People shouldn’t be alarmed but they shouldn’t be complacent either, if you are sick with symptoms which could be due to COVID 19 go and get tested and then stay home until you get your results,” a spokesman for the health authority said.
The spokesman said it was imperative the community understood that the positive result did not mean that there were active cases in Cairns.
“There are no known outbreaks in Cairns and have not been for some time,” he said.
“However, this positive sample means that we cannot rule out the possibility that there was or is an infected person in the area who has not been tested.
“It could also be an indication that someone who has previously had COVID-19 has visited our area and is still shedding the dead virus or it is from someone who was positive in our quarantine hotel and is now recovered.
“This detection should serve as an alert and warning to the community to be vigilant for COVID-19 symptoms.”
The spokesman said anyone with any symptoms of COVID-19, no matter how mild, should get tested immediately.
“Getting a test does not mean you have to quarantine for 14 days, you just have to go home until we text your results which takes about 24 hours,” he said.
“People who tested negative for COVID-19 in March or April may still be at risk of contracting the disease and if they get sick again, they should get tested again.”
Free, convenient and confidential COVID-19 testing is available across Cairns.
There is a drive-through clinic at 43 Aumuller St, Cairns and a Testing and Fever Clinic at Cairns Hospital. Phone 4226 4781 for an appointment.
