Queensland man becomes Australia's first Millennial to die from virus

The death of Australia's first Millenial coronavirus victim, a 30-year-old man, has sparked a contact tracing and testing blitz in the central Queensland coal mining town of Blackwater.

The man's partner found his body in their home on Tuesday afternoon. He is described as having a complicated medical history but had not been tested for COVID-19 before his death. The coroner will investigate his death.

Local residents have been urged to seek out testing if they have coronavirus symptoms. The man had not left the Blackwater area in months and the source of his infection is not known.

The man's partner is being treated at the Rockhampton Hospital. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said extensive contact tracing was under way and police and ambulance officers who attended the scene were self-isolating.

"There will be fever clinics set up at Blackwater and also at Emerald and if anyone has any flu-like symptoms, we urge you in these two communities to please go and get tested," she said.

Commonwealth Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly described the man's death as a terrible tragedy, bringing Australia's total number of fatalities to 103.

Queensland has had seven COVID-19 deaths.

"It is by far our youngest death so far from COVID-19 and it is a reminder that this is a serious illness and whilst it does affect ... older people and people with chronic illness, it can affect anyone and it can affect people severely," he said.

"How it came to be in Blackwater, quite an isolated area inland from Rockhampton in Queensland is a matter of conjecture.

"I know that the Queensland Health authorities are looking into that and we will wait for their advice."

In Western Australia, the federal government said quarantine officers who boarded a live-export ship docked in Fremantle wore personal protective equipment after it was confirmed six crew members had the virus. 

Premier Mark McGowan expects more crew from the Al Kuwait to test positive in coming days, with all being isolated and subject to contact tracing.

The federal and West Australian governments have argued over responsibility and warning about the infected ship this week.

Professor Kelly said the men were "not severely unwell" and were being cared for in hotel quarantine.

In Victoria, a further four cases were identified through routine testing, with the source of another new infection being investigated.

Cedar Meats, the Melbourne business at the centre of the state's COVID-19 cluster said it would reopen operations with about 300 staff on Thursday.

The Brooklyn abattoir has tested all workers after more than 100 cases were linked to its operations.

General manager Tony Kairouz said workers' safety was a priority.

“The control measures will be regularly updated to reflect changes resulting
from government announcements, directions of the Victorian Chief Health Officer and best practices for the sector,” he said.