Brisbane lockdown to be lifted at 6:00pm but masks and some restrictions to remain

The Brisbane lockdown will be lifted at 6:00pm tonight with no new cases reported, though masks will remain mandatory in crowded areas for another 10 days.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said it had been a "great effort" by Queenslanders over the past three days.

"This is the best news we could have hoped for, absolutely the best news," Ms Palaszczuk said.

No cases were reported since 6:00pm on Friday, when Queensland authorities imposed a snap lockdown to slow the potential spread of a UK coronavirus variant.

The highly contagious strain was detected in a cleaner who spent five days in the community in early January after contracting the virus at Brisbane quarantine hotel.

Confused about Greater Brisbane's new mask rules?
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Face masks are mandatory until January 22 in Greater Brisbane. Here is a full list of where and when you need to wear one.

Masks will remain mandatory until 1:00am on January 22 at shopping centres, supermarkets, gyms, public transport, places of worship and workplaces where people cannot socially distance.

Masks are not needed in cars or while exercising at a safe distance from others.

Restaurants will be allowed to reopen at 6:00pm on Monday, but people must be seated to eat or drink, and dancing is once again banned, except at weddings where 100 people are permitted to gather.

There are also new 50 per cent capacity restrictions on indoor and outdoor venues, which have thrown plans for upcoming events into disarray.

Cricket Australia said all tickets for the fourth Vodafone Brisbane Test would now be refunded, and all current ticket holders would be given an exclusive window to buy new tickets on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) said it would halve seating arrangements for shows already booked at 100 per cent capacity until January 22.

It said booking agents would be in contact with existing ticket holders about plans for performances in the coming week.

Read more about the new rules here.
Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said the restrictions were necessary to ease Greater Brisbane out of the lockdown, and she warned Queenslanders not to become complacent.

This decision was not made lightly. We know this new variant is much more contagious, which is why it is so important we continue to have some restrictions in place for a short period of time," Ms D'Ath said.

Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said the measures were similar to those in other states.

"The pandemic is still with us," Dr Young said.

"We have achieved so much this past weekend ... it's important we come out of it carefully and sensibly."

Tens of thousands of coronavirus tests have been conducted in the Greater Brisbane area since Friday, including more than 18,000 in the last 24 hours alone

'On heightened alert'
The lockdown was imposed after a cleaner at Brisbane's Hotel Grand Chancellor tested positive to the UK variant.

From January 2 to January 5, she visited a number of places in Brisbane, including Roma Street train station, Woolworths in Calamvale, and Coles at Sunnybank Hills.

Queensland contact tracers have since spoken to hundreds of the cleaner's close contacts.

So far, they have all returned negative tests.

"We now have 370 contacts of the lady involved and of those 172 have had their test results come back and they're all negative," Dr Young said.

She urged all people who visited the same places at the times identified to come forward for testing.

"I don't think that everyone has come forward yet," Dr Young said.

"For the next 10 days while we see out the 14-day incubation period we still do have to be on heightened alert.

Brisbane will end its three-day lockdown tonight after no new cases were recorded in Queensland today.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the lockdown will end at 6pm (7pm AEST) today but some restrictions will continue until January 22.
Residents in the council areas of Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan City, Moreton Bay and Redlands must continue to wear masks indoors as a precautionary measure.

We wanted to make sure we acted quickly, we acted strongly, we acted decisively and that is exactly what we did," Ms Palaszczuk said.
"Can I thank people in the greater Brisbane region for responding in the way that they did. It has been absolutely truly remarkable.
"So, I can announce that the reward for their sacrifice is that we are able to end our lockdown after three days. That is fantastic news."
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Masks are required to be worn in public indoor areas, including at shopping centres, supermarkets, retail outlets and indoor markets, as well as in hospitals, aged care facilities, place of worship, libraries, gyms and indoor recreations facilities.
The mask mandate also includes hairdressers and beauty salons.
Office workers are not required to wear masks if they can social distance.
"It is for 10 days only and then hopefully if we get zero community transmission over those 10 days, then we can just go back to the rest of Queensland," Ms Palaszczuk said.
Restrictions will also be in place for businesses, with retail and indoor dining reverting back to the one person per four square metre rule.

Ms Palaszczuk confirmed the fourth Test between India and Australia will go ahead at the Gabba on Friday, but the venue will only be filled to half capacity.
Masks will be mandatory while entering, leaving and moving around the stadium, including on public transport.
"If you are sitting there at your seat you will not need to wear your mask because you are outside," Ms Palaszczuk said.
"But if you are going along to the cricket, take your mask, put it on."
Brisbane's 2.5 million residents were sent into lockdown after a hotel quarantine worker tested positive to the highly infectious UK strain last week.
The mutant UK strain is believed to be 70 per cent more infectious than other strains of the virus.
The woman tested negative on December 29 after flying to Brisbane from Melbourne and became infectious on January 2.
She was in the community with the highly contagious strain of COVID-19 for five days.
Ms Palaszczuk maintained the lockdown was necessary in order to prevent an outbreak and to protect the community.
"This has been unprecedented, it has been extraordinary time for people and as we know, this UK variant, the reason why we did it, and why we are continuing to wear our masks in those public areas is because this is a highly contagious strain," she said.
"We don't want to see that in our community."
Four people tested positive to COVID-19 in hotel quarantine overnight in Queensland.
All had flown from the United Arab Emirates and two had travelled from the UK.
Two of the cases were flight crew with airline Emirates.
A total of 18,904 people were tested in the state in the past 24 hours.
Queensland's contact tracers have identified 304 close contacts of the infected cleaner and 154 had returned negative test results.
In a separate incident, a woman who flew from Melbourne to Brisbane visited the small Sunshine Coast town of Maleny on January 6 and January 7 before Queensland Health was told she had re-tested positive for the UK strain.
It triggered a rush for testing by the town's residents.
READ MORE: Nationwide quarantine overhaul begins
Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said Brisbane residents had been "very compliant" with restrictions and her officers had shown compassion.
"From the very outset our strategy has been around communication and compassion and finally compliance. We took a strategy this time rather than fining people to actually hand out masks. So we've handed out 1300 masks."
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Brisbane lockdown to be lifted
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In a separate incident, a woman who flew from Melbourne to Brisbane visited the small Sunshine Coast town of Maleny on January 6 and January 7 before Queensland Health was told she had re-tested positive for the UK strain.
It triggered a rush for testing by the town's residents.
READ MORE: Nationwide quarantine overhaul begins
Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said Brisbane residents had been "very compliant" with restrictions and her officers had shown compassion.
"From the very outset our strategy has been around communication and compassion and finally compliance. We took a strategy this time rather than fining people to actually hand out masks. So we've handed out 1300 masks."
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