Brisbane goes into hard three-day lockdown

UPDATED: Tasmania and the Northern Territory have declared Brisbane a hot spot, which means any travellers arriving in those states today from Brisbane will have to quarantine for two weeks. Western Australia has also introduced a hard border with Queensland that will come into effect from midnight tonight.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced Brisbane will go into a hard three-day lockdown after one local case of the highly infectious strain of Covid-19 was recorded on Thursday.

The lockdown will cover the local government areas of Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich, Moreton and Redlands. It begins at 6pm Friday and goes until 6pm Monday.

“We need to do this,” Palaszczuk said in a press conference Friday morning. “I’ve accepted the strong advice from Dr Young. If we do not do this now, it could end up being a 30-day lockdown. So we will do a very strong three-day lockdown in those areas. You will be allowed to go outside for those four essential reasons we did back in March.”

The four reasons include: to go to essential work, provide healthcare or support for a vulnerable person, do essential shopping, or exercise. If you do go outside, Palaszczuk said masks will be mandatory.

“You can leave home if you are providing healthcare or support for a vulnerable person, or you can leave home for essential shopping within your local area and … to exercise in your local neighbourhood,” the premier said.

“I know this will be tough on businesses over the next few days, but I am thinking about your long-term futures as well. So it is incredibly important that we take these strong measures.

“If you are leaving your place of residence from 6pm Friday to 6pm Monday and you are living in those council areas… you must wear a mask, there are plenty of masks out there. If you are a child under 12 you do not have to wear a mask.

“Let’s be in this together, let’s stay at home, look at it as a long weekend at home. You are allowed two visitors to your home… other than your household members [and] that would be for specific purposes – such as supporting someone.”

Palaszczuk added funerals will be limited to 20 people, weddings to 10, restaurants and cafes will only be allowed to provide takeaway services, while cinemas, entertainment and recreation venues, gyms and places of worship will be closed.

Aged care, disability accomodation services, prisons and hospitals have been locked down to visitors since last night.

“We’re taking a very cautious approach with this case, now that we know for sure this person has the UK variant of the virus,” Queensland’s chief health officer Dr Jeanette Young said on Thursday.

“Evidence shows that this variant is 70 per cent more infectious than other strains. This is why I’m taking this firm action swiftly, to protect our most vulnerable facilities.”

It comes a day after Queensland Health put out a statement warning anyone who had been to the following locations (see below) to get tested and isolate until they receive their result. The locations include:

Saturday, 2 January – 7am – Train from Altandi station to Roma Street Station
Saturday, 2 January – 4pm – Train from Central Station to Altandi station
Sunday, 3 January – 11am-12pm – Woolworths Calamvale North
Tuesday, 5 January – 7.30-8am – Coles Sunnybank Hills
Tuesday, 5 January – 8-8.15am – Nextra Newsagent, Sunnybank Hills Shopping Town