LATEST COVID-19 DEVELOPMENTS:
* A new historic COVID-19 infection has been registered in Queensland as new information reports discounts linking an existing case to a party for up to 25 people.
* The community case reported on Sunday is the brother of one of the state’s current cases that is no longer contagious and is believed to be a “missing link” between the youngest cluster and a doctor who tested positive earlier this month.
* Queensland Health Secretary Yvette D’Ath said reports that one of the cases hosted a party for up to 25 guests were false.
* Further investigation by the police and health authorities suggests that people present were limited to the man’s roommates and one other person.
* Ms. D’Ath said the officers acted on what they believed to be true at the time, telling reporters they became aware of the new information on Sunday morning.
* Jeannette Young, chief health officer, said the two active cases in Queensland were both hospitalized and that while it was too early to relax, she was pleased that the testing efforts had revealed no further community transmission.
* The COVID-19 cluster has triggered a lockdown of hospitals, elderly care facilities, prisons and disability service providers in Brisbane City and Moreton Bay.
* In addition to the historic case, Queensland registered two new hotel quarantine cases on Sunday.
* The Brisbane Lions will remain in Melbourne through at least Monday as the AFL and state governments are closely monitoring the evolving COVID-19 situation in Queensland.
* The NRL are also making efforts to have two games this coming weekend. A COVID-19 cloud hovers over the clash of North Queensland with Cronulla on the Sunshine Coast on Saturday and Melbourne’s Good Friday in Brisbane.
* More than half a million Australians have now been vaccinated against COVID-19. The rollout was accelerated by the Melbourne-made AstraZeneca vaccine.
* The Rural Doctors Association says a “significant number” of doctors in Australia missed the COVID-19 surge.
AUSTRALIAN CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS:
* Australia reported a new locally acquired case of the coronavirus in Queensland on Sunday. Six overseas-acquired cases were reported in hotel quarantine: two each in Queensland and South Australia and one each in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
* National death toll is 909: Victoria 820, NSW 56, Tasmania 13, WA 9, Queensland 6, SA 4, ACT 3 (Two Queensland residents who died in NSW were included in both states’ official tolls) .
GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS:
* Cases: at least 126,726,308
* Deaths: at least 2,777,336
* Recovered: 71,768,319 minimum.
Data current as of 1715 AEDT on March 28, taking into account federal and state government updates and numbers from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
Australian Associated Press
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