Amid concerns of Delta in the community, southeast Qld will ease restrictions

Queensland will ease its restrictions on Friday morning, but one major rule will stay in place for another week.

The risk of Covid-19 transmission at stadiums has resulted in major changes to restrictions in Queensland, including an extended mask mandate.

While density limits will ease across southeast Queensland on Friday morning, masks will remain mandatory for another seven days.

Indoor gathering caps will be increased from 30 to 100, and no cap will be enforced on outdoor gatherings, but stadiums greater than 20,000 seats will now only be able to operate at 75 per cent capacity and patrons must wear face masks at all times.

Before the last lockdown, Queenslanders only had to wear masks when entering and leaving the stadium.

Dr Jeannette Young said masks would continue to be required for another week. Picture: NCA Newswire / Dan Peled

But, having seen the transmission of the virus from the MCG in Melbourne, chief health officer Jeannette Young said punters would now need to wear their mask at all times, unless they are eating or drinking while seated.

“We know with our stadiums throughout Queensland, people can come from a long way away, go to the stadium and then disperse,” she said.

“That’s a real risk. The reason Victoria closed down their entire state is a result of the risk of the virus coming out of that stadium and people going back home.”

Southeast Queenslanders will continue to wear masks for at least another week. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Dr Young said she was sure the reason Covid-19 hadn’t spread further in the community is because people have been wearing their masks, and said she wanted that to continue for at least another week.

“Although we believe we’ve found all the contacts (linked to the two recent cases of Delta in Queensland), because the Delta variant can spread with just moments of exposure, there might be some we haven’t picked up,” she said.

Acting Premier Steven Miles said the trade-off in easing Queensland’s restrictions was slamming the border shut to the entire state of NSW.

The state recorded no new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday.

Queensland restrictions from 6am Friday

• All indoor settings: one person per 2 square metres
• Private indoor gatherings: maximum of 100 people
• Private outdoor gatherings: no upper limit
• Indoor wedding ceremonies and funerals: 1 person per 2 square metres or 200 people or 100 per cent capacity with ticketed and allocated seating, with unlimited dancing restrictions at weddings.
• Masks required in all indoor venues, except when in own home, car, or engaging in strenuous exercise.