Central and southeast Queensland prisons will remain in COVID-19 lockdown until health officials are sure an infected staff member hasn’t spread the disease.

August 28, 2020′

Thousands of Queensland prisoners potentially exposed to COVID-19 remain locked in their cells until health officials are sure the disease hasn’t spread.

About 7000 inmates from the central coast to the southeast of the state have been quarantined after a corrective services trainer was diagnosed with the virus.

The man, 60, didn’t work in a prison but trained 14 prison officer recruits and came into contact with 11 other staff in the days before he was diagnosed.

“We’ve taken the very cautious step in concert with advice from Queensland Health to move to stage four, which is extreme isolation,” Corrective Services Commissioner Peter Martin told reporters on Thursday.

The lockdown limits movement in and out of correctional facilities.

Prisoners are confined to cells and receive no personal or professional visits. Staff who interact with them will wear protective clothing.

Corrections workers union secretary Alex Scott is concerned the lockdown will lead to more violence against workers, but conceded it was the right decision.

“The alternative in relation to an outbreak of COVID within our centres would have been a tragedy for the staff and the inmates,” he said.

The 25 staff the infected trainer interacted with have been tested and are in quarantine.

The restrictions will remain until revoked by Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young.

Health Minister Steven Miles said there was no clear link between the infected trainer and the Brisbane youth detention centre coronavirus cluster detected last week.

However, the man lives in Forest Lake and works in Wacol where the detention centre is located.