Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced Greater Brisbane will go into a three-day lockdown from 5pm tonight.
The lockdown includes residents of Brisbane City Council, Logan City Council, Ipswich City Council, Redland City Council and the Moreton Bay Regional Council.
This comes after Queensland recorded 10 new cases of coronavirus overnight, with four community transmissions.
Residents can leave home for four reasons:
- Essential work
- To purchase essential supplies
- To care for a vulnerable person
- Exercise
Schools in the area will be largely be closed from Tuesday, but children of essential workers can still attend.
People are asked to return home this evening and not leave the region.
Residents of these areas must also wear masks indoors except at home, including in ride shares, on public transport and in workplaces.
Cafés, pubs and restaurants will be open only for take-away service.
Outside of Brisbane, visits to aged care, disability services, hospitals and prisons will be limited.
Additionally, gatherings outside of the greater Brisbane area will be limited to 30 people per household. Patrons must be seated in restaurants, with one person per two square metres.
The restrictions will be reviewed on Wednesday evening.
Announcing the snap lockdown, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said “we need to do this now to avoid a longer lockdown”.
Two cases are linked and two are under investigation, but it’s believed this brings the current community cluster to seven.
The remaining six were acquired overseas and detected in hotel quarantine.
Initial investigations by contact tracing indicate two positive cases spent time in Byron Bay while infectious. A third case spent time in Gladstone while infectious.
States and territories across the country have reintroduced border restrictions
Western Australia has reinstated its hard border, meaning only people with exemptions can enter the state. Anyone who has arrived from Queensland since March 27 will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days and undergo COVID-19 testing.
Victoria has labelled the greater Brisbane area as a ‘red zone’ under its traffic light travel permit system. Non-Victorians cannot enter the state under this restriction. Victorians who travel from the Brisbane area must get tested and immediately self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival to the state.
Tasmania has also banned anyone who has been in Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich or Redlands in the past 14 days.
Meanwhile, South Australia will also require anyone who arrived in Adelaide from Brisbane since March 20 to get a test immediately and isolate until they receive a negative result.
The Northern Territory has introduced similar measures, adding Gladstone and Byron Bay to the list.
New South Wales has not introduced any border restrictions, but has urged people to reconsider travelling to Brisbane to reconsider their plans.
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