Qld coronavirus: Greater Brisbane lockdown to lift at midday Thursday, 10 new cases

The lockdown on Greater Brisbane has lifted with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk saying Easter is ‘good to go’ despite the state recording 10 new cases of COVID-19. Some restrictions will remain in place.

The lockdown on Greater Brisbane has lifted, despite Queensland recording 10 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

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Nine of them have been detected in hotel quarantine. The other was locally acquired and linked to a known cluster tied to a Byron Bay hens’ party.

That takes the latest Princess Alexandra Hospital nurse cluster to 12 cases.

There are now more than 2700 close contacts related to the two clusters but not all are in quarantine. This is up from the more than 1700 yesterday.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced the lifting of the Greater Brisbane lockdown at midday, but some restrictions will remain in place. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

“Easter is good to go,” Ms Palaszczuk said earlier today in announcing the lockdown would lift at midday.

But Queenslanders will still be required to carry a mask for the next two weeks when they leave home.

“If you are outdoors and can’t socially distance, put a mask on, it’s as simple as that,” the Premier said.

For the next two weeks, all Queenslanders will be required to carry a mask when they leave their home and to wear them in indoor spaces.

Anyone attending food or beverage establishments will have to be seated, and won’t be able to order food from the bar.

Gatherings at homes during the Easter long weekend will be restricted to 30 people, while dancing will be barred in venues.

Events over the Easter long weekend can still proceed if they have a COVID checklist, but authorities are urging people to wear masks if they can’t socially distance.

The lifted restrictions will mean Easter services can go ahead, and there can be 100 per cent capacity if the seating is ticketed.

There are currently 82 active cases in Queensland hospitals.

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young described the one new community case overnight as the “perfect case” because it was linked to the Byron Bay cluster.

The person, from the Wide Bay area, was tested on Monday night and was negative, but was positive after another test on Wednesday.

“The amount of testing over the last 48 hours has been astronomical,” Dr Young said.

There were 34,7111 test in the past 24 hours to this morning. Dr Young said she would have been cautious without the high number of tests.

“For the next 14 days, we will need to continue that testing.”

Dr Young said lifting the restrictions did not mean the outbreak was over.

“You need to use some commonsense,” she said in relation to the ongoing mask restrictions.

Aged care facilities, disability care accommodation, hospitals and prisons would only be allowed visitors for end of life care during the next fortnight.

Dr Young has also pleaded with people to make sure they leave contact details at venues.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said restrictions were necessary to remain for aged care because only a third of residents had been vaccinated and few staff.

He repeated calls on the Morrison Government to work with Queensland to develop a regional hotel quarantine centre.

Both Ms Palaszczuk and Queensland Police have urged people heading off for their Easter break to take care on busy roads.

Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young says high testing rates have been part of the reason the lockdown can be lifted. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

“The last thing we want to see is accidents on our roads at 5pm this evening,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“I encourage people to take care on the roads, please be safe and enjoy your time away with family and friends.

Queensland businesses were up in arms after Ms Palaszczuk decided to hold off on making an announcement until this morning, saying businesses were “living and dying” by the 9am update.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland Advocacy and Policy General Manager Amanda Rohan said following the government’s Monday press conference, the body thought they would be provided an update on Wednesday night.

“That is definitely how we viewed it when the announcement was made on Monday,” she said.

“We thought that was fantastic because it was a bit more time.”

Ms Rohan said businesses were making decisions via 24 hour cycles.