Qld relaxes restrictions as 66 new cases reported in Vic
As Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk welcomes in Stage 3 of COVID-19 restrictions, six Melbourne AFL teams will set up camp in Queensland for the rest of the season to escape the outbreaks in Victoria as it recorded 66 new cases overnight.
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PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk and Health Minister Steven Miles have welcomed the reopening of pubs and clubs at a press conference at the Paddington Tavern in Brisbane, as the state also prepares to welcome six Melbourne AFL teams fleeing the Victorian outbreak.
Mr Miles said it wasn’t often he got to encourage Queenslanders to get on the booze.
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“It’s a good day to go out and spend some money at your local pub,” he said.
Ms Palaszczuk has also confirmed that Queensland will host a number of Melbourne AFL clubs.
The six teams – St Kilda, North Melbourne, Essendon, Western Bulldogs, Richmond and Carlton – will set up base in Queensland for the rest of the season, basing themselves on the Gold and Sunshine coasts.
“I’ve just been advised that Queensland is coming to the aid - or you could say the salvation - of the AFL season,” she said.
All 10 Victorian clubs will be evacuated from the state after the completion of this weekend’s round of football, meaning Melbourne will be without AFL matches for weeks, if not months.
Round 6 will be played exclusively across venues in News South Wales and Queensland.
A hub will also be opened in Western Australia in time for Round 7.
Geelong and Collingwood will spend a week in Sydney before heading to WA.
As late as Thursday evening St Kilda and Geelong were expecting to play one more game in Melbourne but the league has to move fast because of Victoria’s deepening COVID-19 crisis.
The commencement of Stage 3 restrictions in Queensland comes the state recorded no new cases overnight – with two cases still active – while Victoria reported another big increase in the number of its local caseload, with 66 more cases reported in the same period.
That is the fifth straight day of more than 60 cases being reported in Victoria.
Ms Palaszczuk shared her excitement for Queensland’s zero cases overnight, as she added: “We just got to keep it going”.
“This is fantastic news... as from 12 noon today, more people are allowed (at pubs),” she said.
“We’re going to have more people coming into venues right across our state ... Easing restrictions in Stage 3 is on track, it’s on schedule.”
The Cape York Peninsula will also be opening from today, with a few exceptions: Kowanyama, the Northern Peninsula Area, and Torres Strait.
“They will be opening up on the 10th of July ... we’re very excited that they’re going to have the freedom of movement around just as everyone else does in our great state,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Contact and community sport is also back, while nightclubs and casinos can also reopen.
“The other big thing, this weekend we’ll be getting our kids back to playing community sport and cheering them on from the sidelines which is fantastic, and it’s all a reward for the hard efforts of Queenslanders throughout this COVID-19 pandemic,” Mr Miles said.
“Nowhere else in the world really has been able to do this as quickly as we have”.
Originally published as Qld relaxes restrictions as 66 new cases reported in Vic
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