Southeast Queensland will be lifted out of lockdown while tough stay-at-home orders will be enforced in Cairns over the next three days after a taxi driver tested positive to Covid-19.  

State premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the lockdown would be lifted for 11 local government areas after the state reported nine new cases.

The regions include City of Brisbane, Moreton Bay Region, City of Gold Coast, City of Ipswich, Lockyer Valley Regional Council, Logan City, Noosa Shire Council, Redland City, Scenic Rim Regional Council, Somerset Regional Council and Sunshine Coast Regional Council.  

Cairns and Yarrabah will also begin a hard three day lockdown from 4pm on Sunday.

It comes after it was revealed a taxi driver had tested positive to the virus and had been working in the community while infectious. 

‘Now, we’re concerned about this,’ Ms Palaszczuk said. ‘It is a taxi driver, and he has been infectious in the community for about 10 days.’ 

‘This discovery of a positive case in Cairns is something that we were not expecting, and we really need the residence of Cairns to come forward with any symptoms and get tested.’ 

Southeast Queensland will be lifted out of lockdown while tough stay-at-home orders will be enforced in Cairns over the next three days after a taxi driver tested positive to Covid-19

Southeast Queensland will be lifted out of lockdown while tough stay-at-home orders will be enforced in Cairns over the next three days after a taxi driver tested positive to Covid-19

Southeast Queensland will be lifted out of lockdown while tough stay-at-home orders will be enforced in Cairns over the next three days after a taxi driver tested positive to Covid-19 

Chief health officer Dr Jeanette Young previously said she would decide if restrictions would be rolled back after reviewing Sunday's case numbers

Chief health officer Dr Jeanette Young previously said she would decide if restrictions would be rolled back after reviewing Sunday's case numbers

Chief health officer Dr Jeanette Young previously said she would decide if restrictions would be rolled back after reviewing Sunday’s case numbers 

Ms Palaszczuk said the lockdown rules would be similar to southeast Queensland – with residents confined to their homes and unable to leave unless for essential reasons.

Though Cairns and Yarrabah residents will be allowed to invite two visitors to their homes.  

Queenslanders were days earlier being told they should avoid online shopping so delivery drivers wouldn’t have to leave their homes.

Chief health officer Dr Jeanette Young argued it would be better for residents to hold off on all non-essential purchases to reduce the risk of contact between customers and delivery drivers.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles reiterated the message that residents should only be leaving their homes if it was absolutely necessary.

‘It has to be essential and the onus is on the individual to have a reason to leave their home, not on retailers or businesses,’ he said at a press conference on Wednesday.

‘Now is not the time to buy outdoor furniture. There will be time before summer to get sun lounges.’  

Dr Young previously said she would decide if restrictions would be rolled back after reviewing Sunday’s case numbers. 

All new infections have been linked to the Indooroopilly cluster, in Brisbane’s west, and most if not all new cases have been isolating while infectious.

Queensland recorded 13 new locally acquired cases on Saturday, all associated with the schools at Indooroopilly, Spring Hill, and St Lucia on the northern side of the Brisbane River.

All were in isolation while infectious.

Three are linked to a karate club that trains at Indooroopilly State High School, and four are household contacts linked to cases at the high school.

Five others are household contacts linked to Ironside State School, and one is a close contact associated with Brisbane Boys Grammar School.

There are now 102 cases linked to the so-called Indooroopilly cluster.

Dr Young has warned others will emerge among the more than 10,000 people currently in home quarantine.

Some families face extended periods in isolation as the virus jumps from one member to the next, resetting the two-week quarantine clock each time.

Queensland recorded 13 new locally acquired cases on Saturday, all associated with the schools at Indooroopilly, Spring Hill, and St Lucia on the northern side of the Brisbane River

Queensland recorded 13 new locally acquired cases on Saturday, all associated with the schools at Indooroopilly, Spring Hill, and St Lucia on the northern side of the Brisbane River

Queensland recorded 13 new locally acquired cases on Saturday, all associated with the schools at Indooroopilly, Spring Hill, and St Lucia on the northern side of the Brisbane River

All new infections have been linked to the Indooroopilly cluster, in Brisbane's west, and most if not all new cases have been isolating while infectious

All new infections have been linked to the Indooroopilly cluster, in Brisbane's west, and most if not all new cases have been isolating while infectious

All new infections have been linked to the Indooroopilly cluster, in Brisbane’s west, and most if not all new cases have been isolating while infectious

‘This is going to be a lengthy time for some of those people, because as each person in the household becomes positive, quarantine then extends for another 14 days from that point,’ Dr Young said on Saturday.

‘It is absolutely critical that no-one from any of those households goes out into the community.’

With case numbers in NSW hitting a record of 319 on Saturday, Queensland police have repeated warnings that anyone crossing the border will face intense scrutiny.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath expressed her disgust after two paramedics were forced into isolation after coming into contact with an unauthorised arrival from NSW.

‘If you turn up at the border without the proper exemptions you will end up in hotel quarantine,’ she told would-be travellers from NSW and Victoria.

Meanwhile, police have caught a woman who escaped from a quarantine hotel on the Gold Coast on Tuesday.

Officers say she had been in a COVID-19 hotspot in NSW before she illegally entered Queensland.

She was caught at Caboolture, north of Brisbane on Saturday, after a tip off from the public.

There were 40,835 tests carried out in Queensland in the 24 hours to 6am Saturday, and police patrolling the border intercepted more than 10,000 vehicles

There were 40,835 tests carried out in Queensland in the 24 hours to 6am Saturday, and police patrolling the border intercepted more than 10,000 vehicles

There were 40,835 tests carried out in Queensland in the 24 hours to 6am Saturday, and police patrolling the border intercepted more than 10,000 vehicles

Some families face extended periods in isolation as the virus jumps from one member to the next, resetting the two-week quarantine clock each time

Some families face extended periods in isolation as the virus jumps from one member to the next, resetting the two-week quarantine clock each time

Some families face extended periods in isolation as the virus jumps from one member to the next, resetting the two-week quarantine clock each time

Dr Young hopes the risk is low because the woman returned a negative test before she escaped from the hotel by forcing open a glass door.

Meanwhile, two people have copped hefty fines after they left lockdown in the southeast corner and travelled to Mackay to attend a party.

In the regional city of Rockhampton, there are encouraging signs the virus has not been widely transmitted after an infected woman travelled there for work.

All her close contacts have so far tested negative, five days into their quarantine period.

But Dr Young is less comfortable about the situation in Cairns, where a reef pilot was recently active in the community while infectious.

She wants anyone who is unwell in the Cairns area to immediately get tested so she can be more confident the virus isn’t spreading unchecked there.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is due to be released from hotel quarantine on Sunday morning after she returned a final negative test following her trip to Tokyo for the Olympics.

There were 40,835 tests carried out in Queensland in the 24 hours to 6am Saturday, and police patrolling the border intercepted more than 10,000 vehicles.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is due to be released from hotel quarantine on Sunday morning after she returned a final negative test following her trip to Tokyo for the Olympics (pictured, Brisbane residents queuing outside Lune Croissanterie despite lockdown orders)

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is due to be released from hotel quarantine on Sunday morning after she returned a final negative test following her trip to Tokyo for the Olympics (pictured, Brisbane residents queuing outside Lune Croissanterie despite lockdown orders)

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is due to be released from hotel quarantine on Sunday morning after she returned a final negative test following her trip to Tokyo for the Olympics (pictured, Brisbane residents queuing outside Lune Croissanterie despite lockdown orders)

Source: Daily Mail

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