Gold Coast COVID: What are the latest restrictions and lockdowns?

Brisbane residents have been urged to “grab your board shorts and get on down" to the Gold Coast after the state's lockdown ends at midday. WHAT IT ALL MEANS

• Why Gold Coast could get plunged back into lockdown
• Coast's most amazing COVID tales
• Coast COVID: What you can and can't do

GOLD Coast Mayor Tom Tate has declared Brisbane residents should “grab your board shorts and get on down here” after the State Government revealed the city's lockdown would end at midday.

“We have the best of the beaches, the best hinterland breaks and the best thrill rides. It’s time to escape the lockdown and enjoy everything we have to offer,” he said.

LIST: Cafes and restaurants open on Good Friday on the Coast

Cr Tate said the Federal Government’s aviation support package was now in operation and there was 800,000 discount seats across Australia.

“The main website search engines are running hot and the Gold Coast is the No 1 location so far as people searching for a great holiday,” he said.

“That doesn’t surprise me. When you see one-way fares from as little as $32 … that’s as cheap as a pizza and a beer so start booking.’’

Cr Tate urged Gold Coasters to follow normal social distancing rules and he pointed to the Queensland Government’s website for more information.

Some restrictions remain for the next 14 days.

Queenslanders will have to wear masks when required until April 15.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk revealed "Easter is good to go" and the lockdown would end at a press conference in Brisbane on Thursday morning.

 

Meanwhile, Gold Coast GPs are warning residents to “keep to the rules” to ensure further restrictions aren’t put in place across the city in the coming days and weeks.

Heather McLellan-Johnson, managing director of Medical on Miami and Burleigh Cove Respiratory Centre, said her respiratory clinic would open on Good Friday for COVID-19 testing only, with vaccinations resuming on Saturday and returning to normal hours from Tuesday.

“We need everyone to keep to the rules so we don’t delay getting back on our feet,” she said.

“Staff are completely exhausted and will be having a much-needed break over Easter.”

The Upper Coomera Respiratory Clinic at Haan Health is also opening on Friday for COVID-19 testing.

Gold Coast Primary Health Network (PHN) board chair Dr Roger Halliwell said Queenslanders should be “proud” of the early release from lockdown.

“Well done Queensland, we followed the guidelines and we all understand the risk if we do not follow the guidelines,” he said.

A record 34,711 COVID-19 tests were conducted across Queensland on Wednesday, with Chief Health Office Jeannette Young saying she was “reasonably “confident” there were no other chains of community transmission outside the existing clusters.

 

Tourism operators and small businesses on the Gold Coast will be thrilled by the news ahead of the Easter holiday period. 

 

Restrictions such as seating while eating and drinking, no dancing and a maximum of 30 people at homes will be enforced.

There was only one community COVID-19 case recorded overnight, and 10 new cases in total.

More to come.

EARLIER

THE Gold Coast’s top federal doctor says a looming Easter holiday weekend is something “most people want – and quite frankly need” ahead of an anxious wait on restriction decisions.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk plans to reveal a decision at 9am on Thursday in regards to whether the three-day lockdown on Greater Brisbane would be lifted.

Gold Coast Primary Health Network chair Doctor Roger Halliwell said on Wednesday significant local COVID-19 spread overnight would “risk” families being caught in a shutdown situation.

“It’s a balancing act between shutting things down to allow for contact tracing versus heading into a holiday weekend that most people want, and quite frankly need, right now,” he said.

“The reality is, the risk is quite high (of community transmission), but with a collective challenge to throw everything we can at it; by getting tested, wearing masks, staying home if you’re not well and social distancing, we may be okay.”

REVEALED: Where to get free COVID masks on the Gold Coast

Dr Sonu Haikerwal, of the Upper Coomera Respiratory Clinic at Haan Health, says a short lockdown on the Gold Coast would ensure the COVID cluster was kept under control and borders remained open.

Other city health experts say a Gold Coast Easter weekend lockdown is “advisable” to ensure COVID-19 clusters stay contained and borders stay open.

The debate comes as Queensland Health confirmed the Gold Coast had two cases of COVID-19 related to the Princess Alexandra Hospital nurse cluster which locked down Brisbane.

There are now 11 Queenslanders who’ve tested positive connected to this cluster, including a Coast tradie moonlighting as an adult entertainer who attended a Byron Bay hen’s party under a week ago.

An unvaccinated Brisbane COVID-patient ward nurse – who is among the positive cases – also attended the party. The second Gold Coast case, who is part of this cluster, tested positive for COVID-19 at the Nerang (Kalwun) Respiratory Clinic.

QML Pathology staff test Gold Coast locals who have to wait hours to be tested for Covid-19 at the Currumbin Eagles Rugby League Club which has turned into a Pop Up Testing. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Scott Powick

On Wednesday, Queensland recorded three new COVID-19 cases, one in hotel quarantine. A Queensland Health spokesperson said two latest COVID-19 cases were being managed by Metro South Hospital and Health Service.

Across the state nearly 1800 people have been ordered to stay home because they’re considered close contacts and 33,408 people were tested for COVID-19 in a 24-hour period on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she would make a decision at 9am on Thursday on whether the Greater Brisbane lockdown would be lifted.

She advised travellers to wait until Thursday before changing any plans, saying she was having three briefings a day for the “very serious situation we’re in”.

Upper Coomera Respiratory Clinic director Sonu Haikerwal said she was “very concerned” about extra cases being detected, with health authorities now alerting 13 contact tracing sites across the Gold Coast.

“A short lockdown would be good for the Gold Coast, we see so much traffic from Brisbane and northern NSW during Easter,” she said.

“It would be heartbreaking for businesses and the community– they are also the community I serve – but we know sometimes an appropriate short shutdown can save longer-term pain and potential border closures.”

Dr Haikerwal said there was a general feeling in the GP community a lockdown should occur.

As for a Queensland nurse who tested positive for COVID-19 despite being vaccinated, Dr Halliwell said a small number of people did not produce an immune response to the vaccine.

“The vaccine doesn’t prevent you catching COVID, it allows the immune system to fight it more effectively and the main benefit is you won’t end up with a severe illness.”

Gold Coast testing centres have been packed, with queues spanning hundreds of metres and into backstreets at Currumbin on Wednesday as locals scrambled to get tested following exposure site alerts in nearby Tugun.

Queensland Health now lists 13 Gold Coast COVID-19 exposure sites the length of the city which are subject to contact tracing alerts.

'Fallen off the radar': Stark fears over Coast COVID rebels - March 31 

GOLD Coast doctors are pleading with the public to wear mandatory face masks as some openly rebel against the new ruling by the Queensland Government, despite potential fines.Some Queenslanders have fiercely criticised the new mask requirement on social media.

City doctors have raised concerns after spotting a significant number of people out and about without masks, shunning the health mandate if they are not exempt.

“I don’t agree and IMO (in my opinion) it is absolutely ridiculous to mask up a whole population when the science does not support its safety or effectiveness. They are filthy face diapers that most people don’t wear appropriately. I can’t believe that the medical advice is telling people to do this. Shocking,” one woman wrote.

'It's going crazy': Rapid COVID change that left Coast scrambling

But General Practice Gold Coast chair Doctor Kat McLean, who works at respiratory clinics on the Coast, urged the city to wear masks as required and do all they could to stop the spread.

“I think you just need to drive down the street or walk around our community and shopping centres to really get a sense that things for us on the Gold Coast are very much back to normal and it’s (COVID-19 measures) fallen off the radar,” she said.

“Masks – and wearing masks – are quite foreign to us here on the Gold Coast.

“Hopefully we will see more people wearing masks. I think it’s really important that everyone goes out and works with a mask on at the moment.

“I certainly sent my children to school with masks in their pockets so they had them on hand.”

Doctor Heather McLellan-Johnson, managing director of Medical on Miami and Burleigh Cove Respiratory Centre, also urged the use of masks – and emphasised they must be worn correctly, covering the mouth and nose.

“What we have seen is people putting it below their nose. They put it over their mouth but not over their nose,” she said.

People on the Gold Coast during COVID times.

“Sometimes people will take it away from their mouth to talk. I understand elderly people especially can find it very difficult to hear what people are saying, but it’s extremely necessary (to keep masks in place).”

Dr McLellan-Johnson said Queenslanders hadn’t been conditioned to wear masks during the global pandemic, which continues to drag on.

“If we were living in Melbourne perhaps, people might be thinking ‘wow, get that mask straight back on’. But because we haven’t really physically seen it (COVID-19) on the Gold Coast we don’t really know many people who have passed from it or been debilitated by it,” she said.

“It’s 100 per cent important (to wear masks). COVID-19 is here – we just need to do as we’re told.”

Gold Coast Primary Health Network chair Doctor Roger Halliwell has also urged the community to do the right thing and wear masks

The State Government warns Queenslanders must carry a mask at all times when leaving their home amid the ongoing Greater Brisbane lockdown.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Tuesday: “Wear it indoors and anywhere it's hard to observe social distancing, including public transport, taxis and rideshares.”

“You can take your mask off to eat and drink or while seated at hospitality venues, and during vigorous exercise.

“Exemptions apply for people who have disability or medical conditions, or in workplaces where it's not safe to wear a face mask.”

Queenslanders without an exemption who refuse to don a mask and willfully or recklessly breach directions by police can be slugged with a $200 on-the-spot fine.

However, children aged under 12 are not required to wear masks.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes masks as a “key measure to suppress transmission and save lives”.

But the WHO does stress masks alone will not protect against COVID-19 and they must be accompanied by physical distancing, proper hygiene and other preventive measures.

Queensland had recorded six deaths out of 1466 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday, while Australia had recorded 909 deaths out of 29,296 cases.

The United States - which has been criticized for its poor response to the coronavirus - had recorded almost 30 million cases and 544,530 deaths, but does have a population exceeding 328 million, compared to the Australian population of more than 25.3 million people.