I was not sure how long it would take for me to get my tests. I had in the past gotten tested first thing in the morning and received a result twelve hours later late in the morning via text but testing numbers were much higher currently.
As it was, at 4:01pm I received a text from Queensland Health advising “Your test for COVID-19 from 02/04/2021 was NEGATIVE.”
I was never really expecting anything else but it was a relief of course.
To me you didn’t wear a mask to protect yourself – you wore it to protect others.
You didn’t get tested because you were paranoid of getting the virus but of passing it on to others.
You didn’t isolate out of fear for your safety but out of concern for the safety of others.
That is why I got tested and that is why I was not going to see anyone over the Easter weekend.
The negative result though did give Karen freedom to go out if she needed to as per health guidelines.
There were no new commmunity cases reported the morning of Good Friday.
April 04
Easter Sunday I was very fortunate, my parents drove over from the other side of town and delivered Karen and I hotboxes of the family Easter lunch. I expected it to be left outside our place but my Dad walked it to our door. We met both wearing masks and I took the box off him.
It was very kind and very delicious.
Hotboxes. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
The resulting meal. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
In the news there was talk of the new Brazilian strain which was taking off in places as far away as Canada.
The median age of patients The strain was up to 150 per cent more infectious than the original COVID as opposed to the U.K. strain was up to 70 per cent more infectious.
Here was an earlier report from Australian Broadcasting Corporation on the 23rd of January.
April 06
Tuesday I worked from home, during the day I called the Prince Charles Hospital and was assured that the Fever Clinic would be open when I left after work that night.
So you can imagine my surprise when I arrived to this.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
It was now just after 5pm as I scrambled for another nearby site after work to get tested. If the Prince Charles had correctly informed me that they would be closed then I would have made other arrangements.
I fortunately found a nearby Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology at my local medical centre that was closing at 6pm.
I arrived to a nearly closed centre just in time and the nurse kindly performed the test for me and someone else it appeared.
I received a slightly different text from SNP than the one Queensland Health sends.
At 2:37pm the next day advising ” RESULT: COVID-19 virus NOT DETECTED.”
Outside after the test. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
In the news Tuesday night there was talk a new TransTasman Bubble that had long been touted by the Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Now it was happening.
I wondered given our recent snap lockdowns what the upside was for New Zealand and while it was not being discussed openly I had to imagine there had to be an economic factor here.
Either way this would be good news for many on both sides of the Tasman sea and one that caused anxiety for others but it was happening either way.
On the 6th of April, 2021 the World Health Organisation reported there had been 131,531,981 confirmed cases globally with a daily increase of 453,834.
There had been 2,859,469 deaths worldwide with a daily increase of 6,819.
In New Zealand there had been 2,168 confirmed cases with a daily increase of 17. There had been 26 deaths.
In Papua New Guinea there had been 7,406 confirmed cases with a daily increase of 368. There had been 67 deaths with a daily increase of six.
In Australia there had been 29,357 confirmed cases with a daily increase of nine. There had been 909 deaths.
In Ireland there had been 238,466 confirmed cases with a daily increase of 318. There had been 4,718 deaths. Their recent surge over Christmas well over for now.
In Canada there had been 1,008,106 confirmed cases with a daily increase of 6,448. Just the day before the country had reached more than 1 million cases with 1,001,658. There had been 23,075 deaths with a daily increase of 25.
In the United Kingdom there had been 4,356,334 confirmed cases with a daily increase of 2237. There had been 126,862 deaths with a daily increase of 26.
In India there had been 12,686,049 confirmed cases with a daily increase of 96,982! There had been 165,547 with a daily increase of 446.
In Brazil there had been 12,984,956 confirmed cases with a daily increase of 31,359. There had been 331433 deaths with a daily increase of 1,240. As mentioned in a previous post, on March 27th the country had reported their highest number of new daily cases with 100,158. The country recorded its highest daily number of deaths on the 10th of April with 4,249.
In the United States of America30,413,124 with a daily increase of 41,108. There had been 551,769 deaths with a daily increase of 378.
I was back at work, able to go back out in the community, having been able to get tested.
In a few weeks I would a meal with my family having missed them at Easter and even earlier catch up with friends.
Other people had a much worse Easter and no such lovely events in the weeks ahead. I am very lucky.
The entrance to the new COVID Fever Clinic. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
April 01
The first of April was the third day of a three day snap lockdown in the Greater Brisbane region.
It was Thursday and the next day was Good Friday.
The populace waited to have it confirmed that the lockdown would end today.
The number of venues listed from contract tracing had grown significantly.
There was an arguement to be made that had a lockdown be called in the wake of the first case with the PA doctor on the 12th of March that the Byron Bay Bluesfest would have been able to go ahead. That less cases would’ve ended out in the community and travelled as far as Gladstone and Toowoomba.
But case numbers were low as testing numbers had jumped, contract tracing had been ongoing during the lockdown, previous snap lockdowns had seen similar dispersal of the virus far and wide and but ultimately succeeded in their outcome of being a circuit breaker for the disease. There was some anxiety that the lockdown would not end today but if numbers were low this mornign precedent suggested it was likely the Premier would announce it would end.
As you would expect I was working from home.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Pallaszczuk announced in the morning that there were nine new cases in hotel quarantine and only one new case of community transmission and therefore the lockdown would end early at midday today.
As before following the snap lockdown there would be a period of continued restrictions to remain in place until April 15 like mask wearing when indoors and unable to socially distant.
Cafes and restaurants could have patrons dine in but they had to be seated and there was no dancing to be had.
There was a person per 2 square metre rule for businesses and churches to adhere to.
Household gatherings were limited to 30 people.
There would be no visitors allowed at prisons, hospitals, aged care and disability services for the next two weeks.
The two PA clusters now had a total of 20 cases linked to them including the new community case that morning who had been at the Byron Bay Hen’s party.
The Queensland Premier had requested an extension to the end of April in reducing the number of returned travellers returning through the state.
There were 82 active cases in hospital and 68 were returned travellers.
As it got near to the end of my working day an e-mail was sent out at work.
Near where I work is the Toowong village shopping centre where I get my morning coffee from Stellarossa Toowong. Sometimes I pass through the newsagency on my way there.
That newsagent had been listed on the Queensland Health website as a “casual contact” venue for Tuesday the 16th of March between 9:30 to 10am.
I backtracked through my notes.
Had I been working from home in the office on that day?
No I had been in the office.
I usually get a coffee around 9am to 10am.
There had been a meeting that morning.
Was it unlikely that I had been there before 10am.
Yes.
Was it unlikely that I had passed through the newsagency that day given I did not regularly do it on a daily basis.
Yes.
But was it possible….
Yes it was possible and therefore what I did next was a no brainer for me.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
I finished work at 4:30pm and headed to the Prince Charles Hospital Fever Clinic to get tested having just read the e-mail maybe fifteen minutes prior to logging off.
Queensland Health broke venues from contract tracing into two types, one was close contacts and the second was casual contacts.
If you had been to a Close Contact site at the specified time then you needed to get tested immediately and quarantine until you get a negative result.
For those people even once you received a negative test you were to “complete the contact tracing self-assessment” and “stay quarantined even if you get a negative test until 14 days have passed since you were last there. It can take 14 days before you may show symptoms or test positive.”
There were over 1,700 people who would remain in quarantine as a result of this in Queensland over Easter.
Longtime readers will recall this is not the first time I sought out a COVID test or my first visit to the COVID-19 Fever Clinic at the Prince Charles Hospital.
Now on the 1st of April I drove far from the main hospital to the other end of the campus grounds.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
I saw a line of people on chairs in an undercover area outside a building. At the front of it I was checked in by a nurse, I was of course wearing a mask but was instructed to put on a surgical mask and wash my hands. The surgical mask had a blue plastic brim at the top of it where it would be positioned near the nose. It was as flimsy as masks you could buy in pharmacies.
I sat on a chair and waited for my test. I was told I would be called on my mobile. This practice I believe was in place to maybe allow waiting testees to leave and come back so as to keep numbers low at the site during peak testing. There were a few of us seated and waiting but perhaps not as many as there would be during the day or in particular in recent days.
I was there for close to ninety minutes.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
A little over an hour before I got called and answered, a little later I was ushered in and got tested.
In December the nose swab was out but was told this time it was back. I felt they were thorugh but it was not painful. I wandered off into the night.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
I was due to see my parents that Sunday for Easter and there was a good chance I would return a negative test by then and be free to attend to them.
But I though about my parents on a hospital bed, maybe a ventilator, fighting for their lives.
I had just seem them two weeks earlier.
There had been plenty of cases of people who became ill with COVID past the incubation period of 14 days while in isolation.
I was not prepared to take that risk.
I called them and advised I would not be seeing them and then I called work to arrange working from home.
I had a scheduled medical appointment the following Friday and people would be getting their flu shots at work on Thursday.
I rationalised a subsequent test the following tuesday and isolating before then would bring us up to three weeks since the possibility of having been to the newsagency on the 16th of March so that is what I would do.
Below was taken from the Queensland Health website from the 2nd of April just to give you an idea of how easily a potential spread can occur even if a place where there are so few initial cases out in the community.
-Lloyd Marken
CLOSE CONTACTS
Date
Place
Suburb
Arrival time
Departure time
Saturday 20 March
Shinobi Ramen Noodle shop
Westfield Carindale Shopping Centre
Carindale
12pm
2.16pm
Saturday 20 March
Black Hops Brewery
East Brisbane
12pm
2pm
Sunday 21 March
Mamma’s Italian Restaurant
69 Redcliffe Parade
Redcliffe
12.30pm
3.10pm
Saturday 20 March
Green Beacon brewing Co.
Teneriffe
2pm
3.12pm
Saturday 20 March
Eatons Hill Hotel
Eatons Hill
3.44pm
5.30pm
Monday 22 March
PCYC Pine Rivers
Bray Park
7.16am
8.10am
Monday 22 March
KCF Training (gym) New
Birtinya
9.15am
11.30am
Monday 22 March
Plus Fitness New
Minyama
2.30pm
3.30pm
Tuesday 23 March
Plus Fitness New
Minyama
7.30am
8.30am
Tuesday 23 March
Hamilton Hotel Updated
Hamilton
2.20pm
5.23pm
Wednesday 24 March
Oliver’s Real food – Dine in Patrons New
Maryborough West
11.50am
12.09pm
Friday 26 March
FitStop Gym
6/338 Lytton Road
Morningside
6.50am
8am
Friday 26 March
Spinnaker Park Café
222 Alf O’Rourke Drive
Callemondah
10.22am
11.23am
Friday 26 March
Auckland House
60 Flinders Parade
Gladstone Central
7.23pm
9.30pm
Saturday 27 March
Auckland House
60 Flinders Parade
Gladstone Central
7.33am
8.20am
Saturday 27 March
Savour Café
Merthyr Village Shopping Centre
New Farm
10.30am
12.10pm
Monday 29 March
Premium Pilates & Fitness
Coorparoo
9.25am
10.30am
CLOSE CONTACTS INTERSTATE LOCATIONS TO BE REFERRED TO ON THE NSW HEALTH WEBSITE
Byron Bay – Friday 26 March to Sunday 28 March
Suffolk Park – Friday 26 March to Sunday 28 March
Ewingsdale – Sunday 28 March
Ballina – Sunday 28 March
East Ballina – Sunday 28 March
Lennox Head – Sunday 28 March
HISTORICAL CASUAL CONTACTS – OLDER THAN 14 DAYS
Date
Place
Suburb
Arrival time
Departure time
Tuesday 9 – Tuesday 23 March
Princess Alexandra Hospital
5D Outpatients Department (Sexual Health Clinic, Infectious Disease Clinic, Immunology A Clinic)New
Woolloongabba
8.00pm
Tuesday 9 March
11.59pm
Tuesday 23 March
Tuesday 9 – Tuesday 23 March
Princess Alexandra Hospital Ward 5D New
Woolloongabba
8.00pm
Tuesday 9 March
11.59pm
Tuesday 23 March
Wednesday 10 March
Plus Fitness
Everton Park
1.15pm
2.15pm
Wednesday 10 March
Woolworths
Everton Park
2.30pm
2.40pm
Thursday 11 March
Plus Fitness
Everton Park
3.30pm
5.00pm
Friday 12 March
Plus Fitness
Everton Park
3.30pm
5.00pm
Saturday 13 March
Woolworths and Specsavers
Brookside Shopping Centre
Mitchelton
4.00pm
5.00pm
Sunday 14 March
Plus Fitness
Everton Park
8.30am
10.00am
Monday 15 March
Plus Fitness
Everton Park
9.00am
10.30am
Tuesday 16 March
Plus Fitness
Everton Park
4.30pm
5.30pm
Wednesday 17 March
Woolworths
Everton Park
2.30pm
3.00pm
Wednesday 17 March
Studio Pilates
Grange
4.30pm
5.15pm
CASUAL CONTACTS
Date
Place
Suburb
Arrival time
Departure time
Tuesday 16 March
Body Plus Physio
Caboolture
08.30am
08.50am
Tuesday 16 March
Nextra Toowong Village
Toowong
9:30am
10:00am
Tuesday 16 March
Silky Oakes
Strathpine
12pm
12.05pm
Tuesday 16 March
Price Line Pharmacy
Albany Creek
12.30pm
12.40pm
Tuesday 16 March
Grill’d
Eatons Hill
1pm
1.30pm
Tuesday 16 March
Meat at Billy’s
Ashgrove
2:30pm
2:45pm
Wednesday 17 March
Tafe
Southbank
8am
4.30pm
Wednesday 17 March
Woolworths Everton Park
Everton Park
1.39pm
2.13pm
Thursday 18 March
Plus Fitness New
Everton Park
8.00am
9.30am
Thursday 18 March
Milton Fruit Bowl
Milton
9:00am
9:20am
Thursday 18 March
World Gym
North Lakes
9.15am
9.45am
Thursday 18 March
Basil and Vine
Burpengary
10am
10.15am
Thursday 18 March
Giant Chemist
Pacific Fair Shopping Centre New
Broadbeach
1.45pm
2pm
Thursday 18 March
Electric Chair Barber Shop
Everton Park
3.15pm
4.14pm
Thursday 18 March
Studio Pilates New
Grange
4.30pm
5.15pm
Friday 19 March
Plus Fitness New
Everton Park
7.30am
9am
Friday 19 March
Lawnton Country Markets Bakery
Lawnton
6.11am
6.26am
Friday 19 March
Plus Fitness
Everton Park
7.30am
9am
Friday 19 March
Woolworths
Paddington
10am
10:15am
Friday 19 March
Bakers Delight
Paddington
10:15am
10:30am
Friday 19 March
Westfield
North Lakes
11.20am
11.50am
Friday 19 March
Little Red Dumpling
Carseldine
12.10pm
1.16pm
Friday 19 March
Studio Pilates New
Grange
12.15pm
1pm
Friday 19 March
Woolworths
Carseldine
1.10pm
1.20pm
Friday 19 March
Chemist Warehouse New
Windsor
2pm
2.20pm
Friday 19 March
TB’s Wine and Beer
Rosalie
2:30pm
2:45pm
Friday 19 March
Newstead Brewing Co.
Newstead
3.54pm
5.29pm
Friday 19 March
Aldi
Bald Hills
5.10pm
5.18pm
Friday 19 March
Super Cheap Auto
Bald Hills
5.30pm
5.33pm
Friday 19 March
Reef Seafood & Sushi Brisbane
Newstead
5.37pm
6.35pm
Friday 19 March
The Standard Market Company, Gasworks Plaza
76 Skyring Tce
Newstead
6.35pm
6.45pm
Friday 19 March
Public Toilet, Gasworks Plaza
(located to the right of the escalator from the car park)
Newstead
6.46pm
6.47pm
Saturday 20 March
Plus Fitness 24/7 Gym Everton Park
Everton Park
7.40am
8.34am
Saturday 20 March
Coles Everton Park
Everton Plaza Shopping Centre
Everton Park
8.39am
8.44am
Saturday 20 March
Neighbourhood Market Co.
Everton Park
8.45am
8.55am
Saturday 20 March
Westfield Carindale Shopping Centre – any part of the shopping centre
Carindale
12pm
2.16pm
Saturday 20 March
Black Hops Brewery
East Brisbane
2pm
3pm
Saturday 20 March
The Bavarian Eagle Street Pier
Brisbane City
2.15pm
4pm
Saturday 20 March
Market Organics (store only)
190 Enoggera Road
Newmarket
2.45pm
3pm
Saturday 20 March
Riverland Brisbane
Brisbane City
4.10pm
6.32pm
Saturday 20 March
Viscosity
Fortitude Valley
6.42pm
7.31pm
Saturday 20 March
XCargo
Fortitude Valley
7.35pm
9.32pm
Saturday 20 March
Baskins-Robbins
2/489 South Pine Road
Everton Park
9.20pm
9.25pm
Sunday 21 March
The Standard Market Company, Gasworks Plaza
76 Skyring Tce
Newstead
9.50am
10.20am
Sunday 21 March
Presents of Mind
Paddington
10:15am
10:30am
Sunday 21 March
Genki Mart
3/24 South Pine Road
Alderley
10.30am
10.46am
Sunday 21 March
Subway
Strathpine Plaza Shopping Centre
Strathpine
12.50pm
1pm
Sunday 21 March
Burrito Bar Everton Park
Everton Park
3.24pm
3.33pm
Sunday 21 March
Liquorland, Dolphins Central Shopping Centre
Ashmole Road and Klingner Road
Kippa-Ring
4 .40pm
4.50pm
Monday 22 March
Bunnings Rothwell
Cnr Anzac Avenue and Bremner Road
Rothwell
7 .14am
7.27am
Monday 22 March
Café L’avenue
Carseldine
8.51am
8.58am
Monday 22 March
Ashgrove Fresh Fruit Shop
Ashgrove
9:20am
9:30am
Monday 22 March
Zambrero
Aspley
12.05pm
12.34pm
Monday 22 March
Jacobs Bakery
Aspley
12.40pm
12.48pm
Monday 22 March
Bunnings Stafford
450 Stafford Road
Stafford
12.40pm
12.50pm
Monday 22 March
Bunnings
Lawnton
3.15pm
3.30pm
Monday 22 March
Strathpine Plaza Shopping Centre
Strathpine
3.43pm
3.49pm
Monday 22 March
Woolworths Mountain Creek New
Mountain Creek
4.15pm
4.40pm
Tuesday 23 March
Redcliffe Train Line – Kippa-Ring to Lawnton
Kippa Ring to Lawnton
7.00am
8.00am
Tuesday 23 March
Café L’avenue
Carseldine
8am
8.29am
Tuesday 23 March
Woolworths
Paddington
9:10am
9:25am
Tuesday 23 March
Westfield
(Dymocks and Woolworths)
North Lakes
11am
12pm
Tuesday 23 March
Nutrition Warehouse New
Maroochydore
11.15am
11.30am
Tuesday 23 March
Brightwater Medical Centre at
Brightwater Shopping Centre New
Mountain Creek
12pm
12.45pm
Tuesday 23 March
Sushi Train
Carseldine
12pm
12.45pm
Tuesday 23 March
Zambrero
Lawnton
12.51pm
12.55pm
Tuesday 23 March
QML Pathology at
Brightwater Shopping Centre New
Mountain Creek
1pm
1.15pm
Tuesday 23 March
Lawnton Fruit Market
Lawnton
1.57pm
2.05pm
Tuesday 23 March
Redcliffe Train Line – Lawnton to Kippa-Ring
Lawnton to Kippa Ring
2.00pm
3.00pm
Tuesday 23 March
Rosalie Gourmet Market Deli
Rosalie
2:30pm
2:45pm
Tuesday 23 March
Poolwerx Strathpine
Strathpine
3.15pm
3.27pm
Tuesday 23 March
Nellas Gourmet Tucker
Lawnton
3.37pm
3.47pm
Tuesday 23 March
Woolworths
Strathpine
4pm
4.30pm
Tuesday 23 March
Dan Murphy’s
Strathpine
7.26pm
7.36pm
Wednesday 24 March
Tafe
Southbank
8am
4.30pm
Wednesday 24 March
IGA
Milton
9:05am
9:15am
Wednesday 24 March
Milton Fruit Bowl
Milton
9:20am
9:30am
Wednesday 24 March
Redcliffe Train Line – Lawnton to Kippa-Ring
Lawnton to Kippa Ring
2.30pm
3.30pm
Wednesday 24 March
Lawnton Country Markets
Lawnton
2.36pm
2.43pm
Wednesday 24 March
Coles Everton Park
Everton Plaza Shopping Centre
Everton Park
3.24pm
3.33pm
Wednesday 24 March
Uroko Sushi on Train
Everton Park
7.19pm
7.33pm
Thursday 25 March
Café L’avenue
Carseldine
8am
8.29am
Thursday 25 March
Aldi Stafford, Stafford City Shopping Centre
400 Stafford Road
Stafford
8.30am
8.45am
Thursday 25 March
World Gym
North Lakes
8.45am
9.45am
Thursday 25 March
Meats at Billy’s
Ashgrove
9:10am
9:20am
Thursday 25 March
Officeworks
Rothwell
12pm
12.30pm
Thursday 25 March
Café L’avenue
Carseldine
12.34pm
1.34pm
Thursday 25 March
Gin Gin Public Toilet (male) opposite Gin Gin Bakery
Gin Gin
1.25pm
1.26pm
Thursday 25 March
Gin Gin Bakery
41 Mulgrave St
Gin Gin
1.26pm
1.33pm
Thursday 25 March
Westfield
North Lakes
2pm
3pm
Thursday 25 March
Miriam Vale Road Star Roadhouse – male toilet
Miriam Vale
2.35pm
2.45pm
Thursday 25 March
Nundah Respiratory Clinic
1270 Sandgate Road
Nundah
11.15am
11.40am
Thursday 25 March
Oliver’s Real Food – Take away patrons Updated
Maryborough West
11.50am
12.09pm
Thursday 25 March
Cold Rock Ice Creamery
Raby Bay
3.50pm
4pm
Thursday 25 March
Woolworths Cleveland
Cleveland
4.00pm
4.40pm
Thursday 25 March
Redcliffe Train Line – Lawnton to Kippa-Ring
Lawnton to Kippa Ring
5.45pm
6.45pm
Thursday 25 March
BWS – Lawnton Drive
820 Gympie Road
Lawnton
6.15pm
6.30pm
Thursday 25 March
Hanwoori Korean BBQ Restaurant
Brisbane City
6.30pm
7.30pm
Thursday 25 March
Wintergarden carpark
Brisbane City
6.19pm
7.50pm
Thursday 25 March
Ceres Pizza Café
Strathpine
7.00pm
7.58pm
Friday 26 March
World Gym
North Lakes
10am
10.30am
Friday 26 March
Nurse Station café (Patrons)
South Brisbane
10.15am
10.30am
Friday 26 March
SPAR Carina Megafresh
Carina
11.30am
11.45am
Friday 26 March
Coles, Stockland Gladstone
Gladstone Central
12.09pm
12.33pm
Friday 26 March
Woolworths Coorparoo
Coorparoo
12.55pm
1.30pm
Friday 26 March
Niche & Co Café
Tugun
1.40pm
1.55pm
Friday 26 March
Chempro Chemist
Tugun
1.55pm
2.10pm
Friday 26 March
Redcliffe Train Line – Lawnton to Kippa-Ring
Lawnton to Kippa Ring
2.30pm
3.30pm
Friday 26 March
Woolworths Kippa-Ring
272 Anzac Avenue
Kippa-Ring
3pm
3.20pm
Friday 26 March
Stockland Gladstone (including BWS)
Gladstone
4.46pm
5.00pm
Saturday 27 March
IGA Redcliffe
Redcliffe
12.50pm
12.55pm
Saturday 27 March
Sunlit Asian Supermarket
Westfield Garden City
Upper Mount Gravatt
2.30pm
2.45pm
Saturday 27 March
Domino’s Pizza
Greenslopes
3.30pm
3.40pm
Sunday 28 March
7-Eleven
Mackenzie
1.30am
1.40am
Sunday 28 March
52 Espresso
Nobby Beach
6.15am
6.45am
Sunday 28 March
LeanChef Kitchn
Surfers Paradise (Chevron Island)
10am
10.30am
Sunday 28 March
Stable Coffee Kitchen
Tugun
10.27am
10.48am
Sunday 28 March
HOTA Markets
Bundall
10.45am
11.30am
Sunday 28 March
Surf Life Saving Competition
Tugun Beach
12.30pm
2pm
Sunday 28 March
Epic Escape Room
Southport
1.45pm
5.20pm
Sunday 28 March
Kirra Surf Shop
6/8 Creek Street
Coolangatta
2.35pm
3.05pm
Sunday 28 March
Southport Park Shopping Centre
Southport
3pm
4pm
Sunday 28 March
Woolworths
Southport Park
3.14pm
3.35pm
Sunday 28 March
Tugun Supermarket
Tugun
5.20pm
5.30pm
Monday 29 March
Rafiki Café
Mermaid Beach
6.45am
6.50am
LOW RISK CONTACTS
A low risk contact requires you to monitor for symptoms but not immediately quarantine or even get tested. If a symptom occurs then you get tested and ioslate at home until you receive a negative test.
Place
Suburb
Arrival time
Departure time
Tuesday 23 March
Outside Westpac – Peninsula Fair Shopping Centre
272 Anzac Avenue
Where I work we had been keeping to only 50% staff working in the office but we were going into a busy period with my team in particular.
If one of us got COVID, contaminated the rest that would severely impact our ability to carry out work having to quarantine for 14 days.
But far more importantly than that.
It would mean people I work with had been put at risk, their loved ones had been put at risk.
I had the capability and the support to get tested and to not have my income affected in any way.
It was a simple decision.
So on Wednesday morning I called my supervisor who agreed it was better to be safe than sorry. I would work from home and I would go and get tested.
Since Karen has to isolate at home with me too until we got the results I decided I would get tested early in the day in the hope the results would get back sooner. Last time they had come back early the next morning which was very fast.
I packed a bag with all my work stuff to take to the office and back every day. I had done these for several weeks every day. But on Tuesday I was tired and the bag was heavy and I just decided I would leave it there, after all I’d be back in the next day.
So instead I took the one she had made for Karen. Karen’s mask had received some modifications from her – there was a pipe cleaner in one side instead of elastic string.
Wearing Karen’s mask. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
With pipe cleaner. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
The COVID-19 Fever Clinic at the Prince Charles was open from 9am.
I drove over and went to the buildings where the Fever Clinic had previously been but clearly things were now different.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
I asked a staff member who advised me it was now in the Emergency Department.
So I as a potential COVID carrier walked and the entered the Emergency Department of the hospital.
I followed the signs and went down a long corridor away from the ward.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Finally In entered the new clinic, there was a Christmas tree on the desk. A series of row of chairs off to the side and I sat down on one.
I was alone. No one was there.
The test no longer involved a nasal swab. Just my mouth.
It was painless.
By the time I left two people had entered and were seated or at the front desk.
I left the ward.
I was in and out of the ward between 0943Hrs and 0957Hrs.
I went home.
The ambulance bay at the Prince Charles Hospital. Some of the ambulances had Christmas tinsel on their front grilles. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
At 10:00pm I received a text message advising my test result was negative.
For the rest of the week I worked from home.
It was Karen who told me that someone had tested positive at the same clinic that week.
A woman travelling from Sydney on a Virgin flight attended The Glen Hotel near where I grew up on the southside of Brisbane. She had a rental car and drove up to the Sunshine Coast. On Thursday December 17 after a friend told her about the growing cluster in Sydney she got tested at the Prince Charles Hospital COVID-19 Fever Clinic at 1019Hrs – 1026Hrs. She was already back in New South Wales when her test came back positive.
At the entrance to the Fever Clinic at the Education Centre of the Prince Charles Hospital. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
25 May
From the 25th to the 29th of May I worked from home as a precaution.
I also went into a Fever Clinic at the Prince Charles Hospital to get tested for COVID-19 before returning to work.
Because I was confident I just had the cold attending the clinic took on the form of a matter of curiosity.
The reality for many is it is a very anxious time where isolating before the test results means less paid work at best and at worst real concern that they have the virus and they have passed it on to others. I felt very fortunate that I was getting tested out of an abundance of caution for flu like symptoms.
But of course many people have felt this way and received some bad news.
It took 90 minutes all up. I was taken into one room and filled out a form and had my temperature taken.
I noticed a wardie came in and wiped everything down once somebody had left a seat to wait in. There were masks on each seat to put on.
I was then taken to another room to wait.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Then a swab went down my throat on the left and right hand side then down a nostril.
I coughed at the last bit and apologised. The nurse assured me that’s why she had on the full face mask and gown.
Out of curiosity beforehand I asked her the length of the swab and I think she took it easy it with me thinking I was worried about the swab. I was really just interested for you gentle reader.
The World Health Organisation reported on the 25th of May there were 7,109 confirmed cases in Australia with a daily increase of three. There were 102 deaths.
