After community transmission of the virus slowed, Queensland eased many restrictions on July 16, which allowed businesses to increase their capacity.
It was announced today that as of 6 am Friday, July 23, Queensland is removing further restrictions yet some measures will remain in place for South East Queensland LGAs. Additionally, Queensland borders to New South Wales will also be closed for four weeks.
Restrictions for South East Queensland
Residents of local government areas including Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Ipswich, Logan City, Redlands, Sunshine Coast, Noosa, Somerset, Lockyer Valley, Scenic Rim and Gold Coast must continue to wear masks at all times when outside their homes. This includes in workplaces, anywhere physical distancing is not possible, on public transport and when doing non-vigorous exercise. They may remove masks when eating or drinking while seated.
All other restrictions in South East Queensland are the same as the rest of the state.
State-wide Requirements
Indoor premises, events and ticketed venues
Restaurants, bars, cafes, pubs, clubs, places of worship, convention centres and other indoor premises must follow the rule of one person per two square metres or 100 percent of seated and ticketed capacity. These premises must also comply with the COVID Safe Checklist. There are no restrictions on self-service food.
The rule of one person per two square metres or 100 percent of allocated seated and ticketed capacity is in place for indoor events, so long as they comply with the COVID Safe Checklist.
Cinemas, indoor sports events, theatres and similar ticketed venues must comply with the same capacity rule as other indoor events.
Stadiums
Stadium patrons must wear a mask at all times except when eating or drinking — and they must be seated to eat and drink. These large venues that can accommodate more than 20,000 people are allowed to operate at 75 percent allocated seating and ticketed capacity — but they must have a COVID Safe Site Specific Plan in place.
Weddings and funerals
Indoor weddings and funerals are permitted with one person per two square metres or 200 people or 100 percent of the allocated seated and ticketed capacity — whichever is greater. At weddings, guests can dance both indoors and outdoors as long as they follow the capacity rule of one person per two square metres of space.
Contact tracing, quarantines and masks
The Check In Qld app should still be used for contact-tracing purposes.
Anyone quarantining at home still needs to follow home quarantine requirements.
As for masks, all residents outside of the South East Queensland area must wear one when at stadiums, airports, as well as on flights departing or arriving in the state. Residents are also encouraged to carry a mask when when not at home to wear any time physical distancing is not possible.
The above measures will be in place until August 20.
The Australian Institute of Food Safety (AIFS) is closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation in each state and will continue to provide updates as they occur.
