COVID-19 (coronavirus) advice for the UQ community - HEALTH - COVID-19 Virus Transmission

The virus may be transferred if you are in close contact with a person with the virus. You can also contract the virus if it is on a surface that you touch, such as a handrail or door handle, and you then touch your face (especially your mouth, eyes or nose). Using a hand sanitiser or regularly washing your hands can help to reduce the risk.

The risk is currently low as there are very few active cases in Queensland and no evidence of local community transmission.

Read more about COVID Safe travel from Translink.

For more advice, please consult the safety note for public transport, taxis and ride share.

The 'incubation period' means the time between catching the virus (infection) and beginning to experience symptoms of the disease. The period of time between infection and the onset of symptoms remains unclear. Most estimates of the incubation period for COVID-19 range from 1-14 days, most commonly around five days. Health authorities are taking a precautionary approach and are treating cases as infectious 24 hours prior to a person becoming unwell.

There is some evidence that the virus can be transferred through faecal matter, as can many other diseases and illnesses. Good hand hygiene is imperative, especially after going to the toilet.

There are a number of different variants of the virus. All variants can be transferred from hand-to-hand contact if you then touch your mouth, nose or eyes or through the air. This is why it is very important to wash your hands frequently, avoid touching your face as much as possible, avoid touching other people and practise physical distancing, cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze. See our Safety Note for more information.

The risk of virus transmission is dependent on proximity and the type of virus strain. Prolonged close contact with an infected person, contact with droplets from an infected person’s cough or sneeze, or touching your face after handling infected objects (such as sharing the pen or phone of an infected person), will increase the opportunity for the coronavirus to transmit. The physical distancing requirements are to reduce the prevalence of transferring the virus from person to person. Current physical distancing advice is to keep at least 1.5m away from others. Washing your hands frequently is also important. Download a hand washing poster.