Brisbane to go into three-day lockdown

Greater Brisbane will enter a three-day lockdown, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced this morning.

It follows the discovery of a Queensland hotel quarantine cleaner who tested positive with the UK variant of coronavirus yesterday. This has sparked concerns of an outbreak as the woman caught public transport and went shopping before she developed symptoms and got tested yesterday. has the latest mutation of coronavirus currently causing concern across the UK.

Greater Brisbane will now go into lockdown for three days, while contact tracers work to ensure the UK strain of COVID-19 is not circulating in the community.

From 6pm tonight, Friday 8 January, until 6pm Monday 11 January people in the local government areas of Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Ipswich, Redlands and Logan will be required to stay at home except for the following reasons:

• Shopping for essentials, food and necessary supplies
• Medical or healthcare needs, including compassionate requirements
• Exercise with no more than one other person, unless all from the same household
• Providing care or assistance to an immediate family member
• Work, or volunteering, or study if it is not reasonably practicable to work or learn remotely
• Child custody arrangements
• Legal obligations
• Visit for end of life
• Attend funeral or wedding in line with restrictions

Masks will also need to be worn everywhere in those local government areas except if people are at home.

Cafes, pubs and restaurants will be open only for take-away service.

Funerals and weddings will be restricted to 20 guests.

All essential businesses remain open. If you need to leave Greater Brisbane for an essential purpose, such as to work, to return home or to access healthcare, you should limit your movements for those three days wherever you go.

The full list of restrictions include:

• No more than two visitors to the household per day (in addition to anyone else currently staying in the household), excluding care workers or volunteers
• All businesses that can remain open must adhere to one person per 4 square metres with maximum of 20 to 50 with COVID Safe or Industry Plan
• Restaurants and cafes to provide takeaway service only
• Cinemas, entertainment and recreation venues, gyms etc to close
• Places of worship to close
• Weddings involve a maximum of 10 people, including the celebrant and witnesses
• Funerals involve a maximum of 20 people
• Mandatory mask wearing anywhere outside of your home
• No visitors to aged care facilities, hospitals, disability accommodation services or correctional facilities.