Masks will stay indefinitely as CHO rules-out lifting mandate

Southeast Queenslanders should expect to wear masks until delta-variant is no longer a risk to the community as Jeanette Young rules-out lifting the mask-wearing mandate.

Queenslanders in the southeast should expect to wear masks for the foreseeable future as the chief health officer insists there will be no changes to mask wearing while Delta remains a threat.

Chief health officer Jeanette Young on Thursday said there would be no change to the mask-wearing mandate currently in place for southeast Queensland following a spate of Covid-19 scares in the past two months.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young watches Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk as she speaks during a press conference at the newly opened Covid-19 community vaccination hub at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Boondall. Picture: Dan Peled

Dr Young said Queensland had the same restrictions across the entire state, except for the additional requirement of mask-wearing in southeast local government areas.

“There will be no easing of restrictions at this point, but that’s something for the Premier to consider if she wishes,” Dr Young said.

Areas of Northern New South Wales will come out of lockdown from Saturday, suggesting the threat of the Delta-variant entering from the southern border has reduced.

A schoolgirl accompanies mother as she lines up to receive the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine at the newly opened community vaccination hub at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Boondall. Picture: Dan Peled

Dr Young has previously said the mask mandate had “protected us from getting further spread” of the virus despite repeated incursions of Delta in the previous month.

In an open letter published in The Courier-Mail in July, Dr Young pleaded with Queenslanders to continue wearing masks in public.

“It’s more than a public health direction – it’s also one of our most effective weapons against this virus, especially the insidious Delta variant,” she said.

People wear masks as they walk through Brisbane's CBD., Picture: Dan Peled

Dr Young said last month Queensland’s toughest battles were almost certainly still ahead as the state prepares for an inevitable outbreak of Covid.

Originally published as Masks will stay indefinitely as CHO rules-out lifting mandate