This was published 4 years ago
Brisbane NYE to kiss goodbye to pashing strangers, fireworks and 2020
By Toby Crockford and Matt Dennien
Brisbane's fireworks bonanza was cancelled weeks ago and midnight kisses and cuddles with strangers were discouraged this week – like 2020, this New Year's Eve will be very different.
Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said coronavirus-related New Year's Eve gathering restrictions meant a maximum of 50 people in a home and 100 in public spaces.
FILE IMAGE: There will be no crowds and no fireworks at Brisbane's South Bank this New Year's Eve.Credit: Glenn Hunt
"Here in Queensland, given that we don't believe we have community spread currently, we can allow gatherings to continue, which they've not been able to allow in NSW," she said.
"It is critical that people provide their contact details so that if we were to have a case in any gathering, we would be able to rapidly contact other people from that gathering.
"If you're going to hospitality venue, that needs to be done electronically – either through the use of a QR code, or speak to the venue staff and ask them to put in [your] details in electronic form."
Dr Young also discouraged Queenslanders from sharing a kiss or cuddle during the final minutes of 2020 due to the ongoing threat of COVID-19.
"I would suggest you limit that to your known close friends and family and don't randomly kiss and cuddle strangers that might be there in your circle," she said.
"Make sure you know who you're interacting with, so again, if we need to, that we can contact people who've had any close contact."
In addition to gathering rules, dancing is allowed in all indoor and outdoor venues, while there is a one person per two square-metre rule in indoor venues such as restaurants, cafes, pubs and clubs.
If venues had a COVID Safe Event Checklist in place, as many as 500 people could gather at indoor events and up to 1500 people are permitted at outdoor events.
In November, Brisbane City Council scrapped its New Year's Eve and Australia Day fireworks, citing COVID-19 restrictions limiting crowds at South Bank.
Last month, deputy mayor Krista Adams said about 100,000 people would usually flock to South Bank to watch the fireworks shows, which would not be feasible this year or early next.
The City of Gold Coast also called its fireworks off later last month.
However, there will be public fireworks at Redcliffe Markets, as well as private fireworks at Brisbane's Victoria Park Golf Course, The Boundary Hotel in West End and Bakery Lane in Fortitude Valley.
TransLink will have more than 550 extra services running in the state's south-east from midnight on New Year's Day including 405 bus runs, 124 train trips and 45 Gold Coast light rail services.
TransLink will run twice its regular number of NightLink bus services, have buses every 7½ minutes between 12.15am and 1.30am on BUZ routes, and extra Glider services throughout the night.
Trains will run on a regular Thursday timetable on New Year’s Eve, with two extra services on most lines between 12.30am and 1.30am, and hourly services to run throughout the morning on all lines.
Unfortunately, Brisbane is on track for a wet and cool New Year's Eve, according to the Bureau of Meteorology's latest forecast.
Brisbane is set for a top of 28 degrees on New Year's Eve, with a 70 per cent chance of showers and up to 8 millimetres of rain expected to fall during the day. The same is forecast for New Year's Day.