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Exactly a year ago Mackay faced one of its biggest challenges since war time as the first confirmed COVID-19 case spread fear through the community.
On March 16 2020, news broke that a UK tourist had defied health orders and flown to Hamilton Island after being diagnosed with COVID-19 in Sydney.
The woman was found on a Hamilton Island beach after NSW Health authorities alerted their Queensland counterparts.
She was isolated on the island and transferred to Mackay Base Hospital.
It is understood the woman's tourist visa was later cancelled and she was slapped with an exclusion penalty meaning she would not be able to return to Australia for three years.