Deputy Premier Steven Miles has played down fears a freight ship off the Queensland coast may be carrying a new strain of COVID-19 as testing continues.

October 21, 2020

Queensland has recorded one new COVID-19 case as the deputy premier plays down fears a freight ship north of Brisbane may be carrying a new strain of the virus.

Health Minister Steven Miles says it’s too soon to determine the genomic identification of the strain that infected a crew member aboard the Sofrana Surville.

The ship anchored off the Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast after authorities on Tuesday prevented it from docking in Brisbane.

Health officials continue to test the 19 crew members aboard the vessel but Dr Miles dismissed concerns the ship could be harbouring a mutated stain of the disease.

“I’ve seen those media reports suggesting it’s a new strain. We wouldn’t have that kind of information to hand yet,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

“The initial testing doesn’t provide that level of genomic identification.

“There’s no need to be particularly concerned about this case. We’ve managed a number of ships off our coast with positive cases.”

The ship sailed from New Zealand earlier in the month after picking up fresh crew from The Philippines on October 13 and travelling to New Caledonia.

New Zealand alerted Australian officials the ship could be infected coronavirus after an engineer who was on another ship, the Ken Rei, tested positive.

Queensland health officials have asked New Zealand authorities for more information about the ship and crew.

Dr Miles said health workers would continue to follow the state’s COVID-19 freight ship protocols while testing the crew.

Queensland recorded one new COVID-19 case overnight after a returned traveller in hotel quarantine tested positive.

Health officials completed 5889 coronavirus tests in the 24 hours to Wednesday morning.

The state has five active cases and it has been 41 days since the last case was diagnosed in the community.