Queensland plunged into lockdown after two new local cases

Queensland has become the fourth Aussie jurisdiction plunged into lockdown in the past week after reporting new local cases.

Annastacia Palaszczuk has plunged a number of Queensland areas into a snap three-day lockdown after the state reported two new local cases.

The 11 local government areas of greater Brisbane and surrounding area will be forced to stay home from 6pm on Tuesday, as well as Townsville City, Palm Island and Magnetic Island.

“I foreshadowed yesterday that if we have got multiple issues happening across the southeast and some risk exposure in Townsville, regional Queensland … we have got that outbreak, that risk linked to the Portuguese restaurant we mentioned the other day,” the Premier said.

“We are now dealing with multiple scenarios (and) it’s time for us to act quickly and to act fast.”

Chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said there “are only four reasons you can leave home during the lockdown period”.

Those include:

• To buy essentials such as groceries or medications
• Work or study if you can’t do either from home
• Exercise in your local area
• Healthcare or to provide help, care or support

Mask wearing is now mandatory in Queensland. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass

“One is essential work that you cannot do from home or essential study that you cannot do from home,” Dr Young said.

“You can travel wherever you would normally travel to do that essential critical work, essential critical study, so you can leave home for those reasons.

“If you have responsibilities to provide care to someone who is vulnerable, you can leave your home to where that is.

“Then, of course, you can leave your home to buy essential supplies — that’s food and medications, so things that are essential and you can leave home for your own essential health care of course.”

Queensland has become the fourth jurisdiction to be plunged into lockdown following Western Australia, Northern Territory and NSW.

The 11 southeast Queensland local government areas affected by the stay-at-home orders are Noosa, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Logan, Redlands, Moreton Bay, Brisbane, Gold Coast, the Scenic Rim, Lockyer Valley and Somerset.

Queenslanders have been urged to get tested as the exposure site list grows. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

The state was already on high alert after the Premier revealed the highly contagious Delta variant had made its way into the state.

Authorities are now scrambling to uncover how the fly-in, fly-out female mine worker from the Sunshine Coast contracted the variant.

The woman flew back to Queensland and was infectious in the community in Brisbane on Saturday before heading to the Sunshine Coast, where she tested positive on Sunday afternoon.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the fact the Delta variant had made it into Queensland was concerning, because it had been demonstrated to spread within “a matter of seconds and minutes”.

“It is highly contagious and we must take this seriously,” she said.

The female miner was exposed to the virus at the NT gold mine after a male miner likely contracted Covid-19 while quarantining in proximity to international travellers at the Novotel Airport Brisbane.

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

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