Sewage testing ordered in Queensland after 30-year-old's COVID-19 death

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Scientists have been ordered to sift through the state's sewage for signs of coronavirus after a man died in central Queensland on Tuesday.

The 30-year-old man was found dead in his Blackwater home by his partner about 4.30pm.

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Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and her deputy, Health Minister Steven Miles, in Brisbane announcing the Blackwater death.Darren England/AAP

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the man showed symptoms and had been staying at home for the past month, but was not tested for the virus until after his death.

Blackwater, a coal mining town near Rockhampton, had never had a case of COVID-19 and the man is the first Queenslander to die from the virus outside the state’s south-east corner.

Health authorities are unsure how he contracted the virus given he had not travelled outside the region since February.

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young has now ordered scientists to look through the state's waste to see if more people in the area had contracted the virus and to identify other hotspots around the state.

The testing, developed by researchers at the University of Queensland, gives a real-time snapshot of how many people in a given community have the virus.

A team of contract tracers have been parachuted into the small town to help determine how far the virus may have spread and fever clinics have also been established at Blackwater and Emerald.

The man was not believed to have worked since November, but his partner works at a local store.

She has been put into isolation but has returned a negative test.

Paramedics and police officers who responded to the call-out are also now in quarantine

“He has a complicated medical history and that also needs to be worked through,” Dr Young said.

“We believe he was at home for that time and we believe he’s had symptoms for several weeks.”

Ms Palaszczuk said the man's death was a "timely reminder" that the virus was still out there and encouraged anyone with flu-like symptoms to be tested.

"If anyone is sick in Queensland, please stay home, do not go to work," she said.

There have been 1058 Queenslanders infected with the virus since January, with just seven of those known cases still active.

Four people remain in hospital.