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Subscriber only 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.