New Queensland Covid-19 restrictions come into force

Queensland authorities have announced even tougher Covid-19 restrictions as two new local cases were recorded on Monday.

Health authorities have reintroduced mandatory mask wearing in Queensland and further restricted the number of visitors in homes.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said residents in Queensland’s southeast will need to wear a mask from 1am on Tuesday but urged the immediate use of the protective covering.

Social gatherings in homes will be capped to 30 people, weddings and funerals reduced to 100, diners must be seated to eat and drink, businesses and venues must return to one person per 4 square metres inside and one person per 2 square metres outside.

Only 20 people can dance at weddings.

The local government areas where mask wearing will be enforced are Noosa, the Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Logan, Redlands, Moreton Bay, Brisbane, Gold Coast, the Scenic Rim, Lockyer Valley and Somerset.

“I want you to start doing it now,” the Premier told reporters on Monday morning.

The new rules came into force after the state recorded two new local cases as revelations a miner working in the Northern Territory transited through Brisbane Airport and travelled to the Sunshine Coast.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the new rules. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Authorities are scrambling to contact trace the movements of the miner who was infectious in the community and was added to the two other locally acquired cases reported on Sunday morning.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk previously revealed new restrictions on Sunday afternoon to “protect Queenslanders from the highly contagious Delta variant” before tough measures were announced on Monday.

The worker left the quarantine facility on a chartered flight to the NT mine.

He then later flew back to Queensland and was infectious in the community in Brisbane on Saturday before heading to the Sunshine Coast, where he tested positive on Sunday afternoon.

The source of the infection has led to fears it was the more concerning variant of Covid-19 with more than 100 people considered close contacts, but it is yet to be confirmed.

Earlier on Sunday, Ms Palaszczuk confirmed one of the new cases was asymptomatic and had been out in the community while infectious.

“We’re going to urge people if you have any symptoms to go and get tested. It is absolutely critical, because we’ve had two cases in the community,” she said.

One was a worker at the DFO shopping centre near Brisbane Airport, the centre of a pre-existing cluster, but they were not believed to have contracted the virus at work.

Access to the full list of exposure sites is available here.