The Queensland Government has announced that Greater Brisbane will go into lockdown for three days, while contact tracers work to ensure the UK strain of COVID-19 is not circulating in the community.
Affected areas include Moreton Bay, Brisbane City, Ipswich City, Redland City and Logan City.
The lockdown will begin at 6pm tonight, Friday 8 January, and go until 6pm Monday 11 January.
Exceptions
People in the affected local government areas will be required to stay at home except for the following reasons:
- Shopping for essentials, food and necessary supplies.
- Medical or healthcare needs, including compassionate requirements.
- Exercise with no more than one other person, unless all from the same household.
- Providing care or assistance to an immediate family member.
- Work, or volunteering, or study if it is not reasonably practicable to work or learn remotely.
- Child custody arrangements.
- Legal obligations.
- Visit for end of life.
- Attend funeral or wedding in line with restrictions.
Masks will also need to be worn everywhere in those local government areas, except if people are at home. Cafes, pubs and restaurants will be open only for take-away service. Funerals and weddings will be restricted to 20 guests.
All essential businesses remain open.
The government says that if people need to leave Greater Brisbane for an essential purpose, such as go to work, return home or access healthcare, movements should be limited for those three days wherever you go.
Get tested
Queensland Health is urging people with any symptoms at all to get tested immediately and quarantine at home a negative result is received.
The full list of restrictions include:
- No more than two visitors to the household per day (in addition to anyone else currently staying in the household), excluding care workers or volunteers.
- All businesses that can remain open must adhere to one person per 4 square metres with maximum of 20 to 50 with COVID Safe or Industry Plan.
- Restaurants and cafes to provide takeaway service only.
- Cinemas, entertainment and recreation venues, gyms etc to close.
- Places of worship to close.
- Weddings involve a maximum of 20 people, including the celebrant and witnesses.
- Funerals involve a maximum of 20 people.
- Mandatory mask wearing anywhere outside of your home.
- No visitors to aged care facilities, hospitals, disability accommodation services or correctional facilities.
Residents urged to avoid panic buying
In a further statement, Queensland Health is urgently reminding the Brisbane community that supermarkets and essential businesses will remain open during the Greater Brisbane area lockdown.
From 6pm Friday 8 January to 6pm Monday 11 January the lockdown will be in place for residents, restricting movements for essential purposes only (including shopping for essentials, food and necessary supplies).
The government says there are no concerns that supermarket supplies are at risk during this three-day period.
Those attending supermarkets, particularly during busy periods, are reminded to practice social distancing and hand hygiene, wear a mask and follow all health advice.
Recent stories, information and updates regarding COVID-19
New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Life shows life expectancy in Australia has decreased slightly for the second year in a row. An international team of researchers has found more evidence that COVID-19 came from animals in a Wuhan food market. The lab-leak theory that Covid-19 came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology – instead of a nearby wet market – was thrashed about in public recently, with the US Senate Homeland Security Committee holding a hearing into Covid-19. Eighteen schools in the Northern Rivers division of Richmond have received $25,000 each as part of the federal government’s School Upgrade Fund, Labor Member for Richmond Justine Elliot said last week. COVID-19 reversed earlier trends toward longer life expectancies. During the pandemic, life expectancies globally dropped by 1.6 years according to a new study published in the Lancet medical journal. Let’s not forget that Covid-19 is still a big issue in our community with 31,935 cases reported across Australia in the last week – an average of 4,562 cases per day. The Global Carbon Budget is about to be refreshed, giving the world a critical insight into how efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are (or are not) progressing. Masks will no longer be mandatory on public transport from tomorrow, Wednesday 21 September. SW Police are urging festival-goers at this weekend’s music festival to celebrate in a safe and responsible manner, whilst also being aware of COVID-Safety measures. The Northern NSW Local Health District reports that to 4pm yesterday, Sunday May 22, there were 40 COVID-19 positive patients in hospital in Northern NSW, with one of these in ICU.
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Important addition to this story – NSW Government has announced that any NSW resident who has been to Brisbane since January 2 also needs to isolate at home for the 3 days. This could impact hundreds of locals and is not limited to QLD.