Greater Brisbane will go into a three-day lockdown as authorities scramble to contain the spread of the mutant UK COVID-19 strain after a hotel quarantine worker tested positive.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced Greater Brisbane, which includes the council areas of Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich, Moreton and Redlands, will go into lockdown from 6pm Friday to 6pm Monday.
Residents must stay at home except for four key reasons – to leave for essential work, health care, shopping and exercise in your local area.
Two visitors will be permitted to visit homes during this period but non-essential businesses will be forced to shutdown.
Ms Palaszczuk acknowledged it was going to be “tough” on everybody during those three days, including on local businesses.
“If you are in those areas and if you have planned a vacation for this weekend, I’m sorry but you will not be able to go,” the Premier said.
“You are allowed two visitors to your home if that is required.”
She said she was ‘going hard and going early’ to stop the spread of this ‘incredibly contagious virus’.
“It is going to be tough on everyone for these three days. What we are seeing in the UK at the moment and other places around the world is high rates of infection from this particular strain,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“There are no second chances with this pandemic.
“Three days is better than 30.
“If we are going to stop the spread of this infectious strain, this UK strain, we must act immediately, we must act strongly.”
Masks will also be mandatory for anyone leaving their home.
A child under 12 does not need to wear a mask.
“We are doing this to make sure we’re keeping Queenslanders safe,” said Ms Palaszczuk.
“We will do a very strong three-day lockdown.
“You will be allowed to go outside for … to go to essential work … you can leave home if you are providing healthcare or support for a vulnerable person … essential shopping or to exercise in you local neighbourhood.”
Nine new coronavirus cases were detected overnight, all in hotel quarantine.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said the UK strain was 70 per cent more infectious and “we know the extreme difficulty the UK has had in controlling that strain”.
“We need to find every single case now,” Dr Young said.
Dr Young said the woman had not gone to any cafes or restaurants during the period she was infectious and said the restrictions were being put in place to locate the woman’s close contacts.
Dr Young said until contract tracers were able to find every contact of the cleaner who had tested positive on Wednesday, Queenslanders could not afford to relax.
She urged people living in the Greater Brisbane region to avoid visiting the elderly, unless they were providing essential care.
“If you normally would provide care to a vulnerable person, think through what the risks are,” she said.
The cleaner, who lives in Algester did a shift last Saturday at the inner-city Hotel Grand Chancellor, where four recent coronavirus cases have been detected in quarantine.
Health alerts were issued yesterday for Algester and the nearby suburbs of Sunnybank, Sunnybank Hills and Calamvale as authorities scramble to track down close contacts.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young announced visitor bans will be imposed on hospitals, aged care facilities and disability accommodation centres in the wake of the positive test.