I too am surprised by Brisbane’s reaction. Every one of my peers and friends have more or less embraced the lockdown. I guess it’s given everyone an excuse to be lazy and either watch the cricket or binge Netflix.
One thing I didn’t like with this sudden lockdown is how authorities/media struggled to keep everyone updated. So many sources of conflicting information. I had to rush back from Canberra (arrived into Canberra 30mins before the announcement Friday) cancelling my weekend away and was hard to find what I could/needed to do.
At the time it appeared that I could come home Sunday as planned. The Chief Minister then announced all local residents who’ve been in Brisbane since the 2nd had to self quarantine. Nothing about tourists. It appeared as if I was going to need to spend 2 weeks in a hotel in Canberra but after several phone calls later there was a clause by the ACT Govt that as long as visitors book the first available flight and don’t leave their accommodation until their flight they will be permitted to leave.
Thankfully I had a border pass as I’d planned to visit friends in Queanbeyan and Bungendore. Several on my flight home were caught out and didn’t see the update quietly released on the Qhealth site with no fanfare. Wasn’t enough to cause a long queue but made coming back into the state a bit of a pain.
Not sure I’ll even bother trying to get away for a while. This is the third time I’ve had to cancel a trip or cut one short. Might just have to wait for the vaccine.
A global pandemic when tourism QLD are promoting travel to its state? Perhaps they should stop that right? There was a national campaign sent out by QLD at the end of October…
Because it hasn’t happened like this, the way QLD did it. At least with NSW it was days after the first initial local case same with SA. This was a snap lockdown with only 1 local case. A case that came from a cleaner working in HQ, not one just found randomly.
And I just love how people think that a vaccine rollout is going to fix outbreaks. They are not going to be able to vaccinate everyone in a month or two. It’s going to take a long time to vaccinate everyone. And let’s say they do get that 4 million by the end of March like they are aiming for (which is unlikely). That is still only 15% of the population. Which means nearly 80% are still at risk of the virus. Which begs the question if there is local cases are we still locking down?
She did say anyone (I took that to mean tourists as well) in Greater Brisbane should stay put for 3 days and any GB residents who were travelling (she gave the eg of being in Mt Isa) should stay put there as well.
Yes, but the feds have specifically stated they expect everyone will be vaccinated by October. That’s not all that long in the scheme of things.
Too early to answer this IMO, as it’ll likely depend on the real world efficacy of the vaccine.
I think the reality of it is that there’s still unknowns with the contagiousness of the UK strain, and they clearly wanted to do something similar to SA and be extra sure that all potential contacts have stayed put, allowing for 3 days to complete testing on all of them. Considering ScoMo’s endorsement despite all the previous squabbles the feds have had with QLD’s management of COVID I suspect if faced with a similar case, we would have seen similar actions in other states.
It isn’t just that ScoMo’s approved of the lock down. The national cabinet agreed to designate Brisbane a national hotpot with just one case of the UK strain despite the criteria usually requiring a rolling average of 10 per day for 3 days. And very quickly the other jurisdictions unilaterally introduced travel restrictions from the area. This is clearly more significant than a case of one state overreacting.
It just needs to be communicated with the public better. And there needs to be some sort of support for those stuck in those areas. The government can’t be approving interstate travel if they are supporting these radical lockdowns and border closures.
Yes because everyone had the fear put into them that a “mutant” strain was lurking around Brisbane. I would have a different opinion if there was evidence of any spread… But so far there hasn’t been.
This lockdown just sets a precendence for the rest of Australia (and QLD). So if we get 1 case of this same strain elsewhere it’s straight into lockdown? If no further cases come from this, I’m not sure that the people of Brisbane will so willingly support another lockdown if another case is found down the track.
We also need to remember that these new strains will very soon become the dominant strains of the virus. Our Governments need to be able to contain a small number of cases without lockdowns. Melbourne Black Rock cluster recently is the perfect example of that.
Actually Anastasia announced the lockdown hours prior to the National Cabinet. You weren’t going to then have leaders of other states oppose it, given this strain was already on the agenda for implementing additional testing in at risk environments. For that reason the lockdown feels very much political to support the cabinets extra measures.
No matter how you want to spin it, this will be looked upon as overreacting if there has been no further spread of the virus beyond the initial case.
0 new cases of community transmission in Queensland. 25 active cases 4 new in quarantine. 18,900 tests.
End of lockdown at 6pm
Following restrictions for next 10 days (to Jan 22):
Must carry a face mask at all times. Wear in shopping centres, hospitals, churches, libraries, indoor recreation etc, workplaces where social distancing isn’t possible, public transport.
These are the level of restrictions I think that we need to have consistently across Australia for the coming months. Rather than jumping the gun on lockdowns and constant border opening and closures, these measures are seemingly effective but it needs a national approach. We had numerous cases roam shopping centres in Melboure on busy day and no known exposures. Masks make a difference.
The biggest change is that Queenslanders will have to start wearing a mask similar to NSW and Victoria in indoor locations and public transport.
Police say that compliance has been high (though callers to radio would disagree) with only one infringement notice issued. However, earlier reported that police tend to hand out masks than fines.
They’ve handed out 1300 masks and spot checked 600 businesses, all complying. Anecdotally, I went for a neighbourhood walk last night and everyone I passed, including those in cars, were compliant.
I saw one dickhead who wasn’t wearing a mask in Ascot on my afternoon walk yesterday. He smiled at me with a shit-eating grin - he totally knew he was supposed to be wearing one but believed he was above it. Was pushing a stroller around too.
They’re onto it swiftly here in Qld though. Within an hour or so of the announcement of the new case, a relative of mine who travelled on a train at the same time as the man (for 4 mins duration- one stop to the next) was contacted by Qld Health and advised to go and get tested, which they have done tonight.
Pretty good contact tracing.
