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Queensland reported no new cases of Covid-19 overnight as greater Brisbane continues its three-day-long lockdown to combat the spread of a UK strain of the virus.
Residents in Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich, Moreton and Redland residents have been ordered to stay at home until 6pm on Monday.
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced on Friday they would only be allowed to leave their homes for four reasons: essential shopping, work, healthcare or exercise around the neighbourhood.
Residents who leave their homes will need to wear face masks, including in their cars.
Ms Palaszczuk said during the Saturday press conference she was pleased to see residents were adhering to the restrictions in place.
‘On my way in here this morning I passed several people who were walking their dogs or cycling and they all had their masks on, so thank you very much, everyone, for doing the right thing.’
The hard lockdown comes after a Brisbane hotel quarantine cleaner tested positive on Thursday for a UK strain of Covid-19, which authorities say is 70 per cent more infectious.
Chief Health officer Dr Jeanette Young revealed a Covid-19 positive case in Victoria, who had flown on a Jetstar flight to Queensland, had also tested positive for the UK strain of the virus.
Residents in Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich, Moreton and Redland residents are currently following stay-at-home orders until 6pm on Monday (pictured, news of the lockdown sparked panic buying at Chermside Marketplace)
Residents who leave their homes will need to wear face masks – though the mandate does not apply to children under the age of 12 (pictured, police patrol the Southbank precinct in Brisbane)
The woman had flown from the United Kingdom and arrived in Victoria on December 26.
She entered hotel quarantine, before she tested positive for Covid-19.
‘So she was then isolated and did the 10 days required isolation, cleared all her symptoms, and was allowed to leave Victoria and fly to Queensland on January 5,’ Dr Young said.
‘So she flew on a Jetstar flight, arriving here in Brisbane late on January 5.’
Dr Young said although the risk of transmission was low the woman was still returning positive Covid-19 results.
‘Because of this new variant, we are just being ultra-cautious which is why we re-tested her when Victoria let us know that she had the new variant and we found that she is still excreting the virus,’ she said.
‘We are just working that through at the moment, and we will be contact tracing those people on the flight where she sat.’
Ms Palaszczuk has urged residents to think of the three-day-long lockdown as a ‘long weekend’.
‘We need to do this. If we do not do this now, it could end up being a 30-day lockdown,’ she said.
News of the impending lockdown sparked panic buying with residents storming local supermarkets to stock up on groceries.
The UK mutation of Covid-19 has health authorities worried that if they don’t act quickly, it may spread out of control in the community.
‘Please, everybody, let’s be in this together, let’s stay at home, look at it as a long weekend at home with your family and friends,’ Ms Palaszczuk said.
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich, Moreton, and Redland residents will only be allowed to leave their homes for four reasons from 6pm on Friday
A cyclist rides his bike near Southbank as Brisbane prepared to enter a three-day-long hard lockdown
A terrifying map shows the Brisbane locations which have been exposed to the UK’s mutant variant of the virus since January 2, including a busy train line, a Coles and a Woolworths
‘It will be tough on everyone for these three days. I think everybody in Queensland, especially the Greater Brisbane area, knows what we are seeing in the UK and other places around the world is high rates of infection from this particular strain.
‘We do not want to see that happening here in our great state and that is why we are taking those strong actions today.’
Prime minister Scott Morrison tweeted his support following the announcement of the lockdown.
‘Wise call by Queensland Premier AnnastaciaMP to have a brief lockdown to enable Queensland health authorities to get on top of the UK strain case in Brisbane,’ it read.
The hotel cleaner’s infection ends almost four months of zero locally acquired cases in Queensland.
The positive case, a woman in her 20s, was infectious from January 2 before testing positive after showing symptoms on Wednesday.
Panic buying broke out across greater Brisbane as 2.5 million residents prepared to head into a three-day-long lockdown on Friday (pictured, shoppers at a Coles in New Farm)
Shoppers queue outside a Woolworths at Camp Hill ahead of hard lockdown in Brisbane on Friday
Anyone with symptoms of coronavirus is urged to get tested immediately.
Contact tracers are tracking the movements of the cleaner, who worked at the hotel Grand Chancellor on January 2.
‘This woman has been exceptionally helpful with us, telling us exactly where she’s been, so we’re following up,’ Dr Young said.
The woman from Algester travelled on the public rail network to and from Brisbane’s inner city and southside.
Health authorities say she visited several locations while potentially infectious.
Supermarket staff hands a face mask to a shopper during the shopping blitz at Gasworks Plaza at Newstead on Friday
The woman travelled on a train from Altandi station to Roma Street station at 7am on January 2, then returned on the 4pm service the same day.
She also visited Woolworths at the Calamvale Central Shopping Centre from 11am to 12pm on Sunday 3 January.
She was also at Coles in Sunnybank Hills for 30 minutes from 7.30am on Tuesday 5 January.
She was also a newsagent at Sunnybank Hills Shopping Town from 8am to 8.15am on the same day.
‘The good thing is this lady hasn’t been to any restaurants or cafes and when we know they are such a critical ear for spread, so that’s really good news,’ Dr Young said.
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