Southeast Queensland opens up just as Cairns enters three-day lockdown over new COVID-19 case

Southeast Queensland has emerged from lockdown just as Cairns residents begin one, as the state grapples with a COVID-19 outbreak.

Eleven local government areas in the southeast came out of an eight-day lockdown on Sunday amid a Delta variant outbreak that has grown to 111 cases.

Nine new cases were recorded on Sunday, with seven linked to the Indooroopilly cluster centred on schools in western Brisbane.

None of those seven cases were infectious in the community, prompting Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to lift lockdown.

"But we are not out of the woods," she told reporters.

"I just want everyone to have a really good understanding that we are dealing with the Delta strain.

"It is highly, highly infectious, and I can tell you from my conversations in Tokyo, with people around the world, this strain is sweeping the world."

As stay-at-home orders were eased in the south, Cairns and Yarrabah, in the far north, entered a three-day lockdown.

The order came after an unvaccinated taxi driver tested positive in Cairns overnight.

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said the man has been infectious for 10 days and she could not wait to make a risk assessment.

"We've got to lockdown straightaway because if I were to wait another 24 hours, that's another 24 hours that there might have been people infectious, (and) also out and about," she said.

A Covid-19 testing station is set up on the Cairns Esplanade in front of Cairns Base Hospital Sunday, 8 August, 2021.

AAP

The other new locally-acquired case on the Gold Coast has a low virus load, so authorities aren't as concerned about it.

However, Dr Young still urged anyone with any symptoms to get tested.

Southeast residents are still subject to a number of restrictions until at least 22 August. 

Face masks are mandatory, including for school and childcare staff and high school students.

Southeast residents can have 10 visitors to their home and visits to hospitals and aged care facilities are allowed.

Weddings and funerals will limited to 20 guests, and a capacity of one person per four square metre rule or 50 per cent seated applies in venues.

Southeast residents are also being urged not to visit regional Queensland.

More than 11,000 people remain in home quarantine, mostly in Brisbane.

Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said officers will be enforcing the new rules.

"There are still a lot of people out there who do not carry and wear masks," he said.

"I am going to bang on about this endlessly: please make sure you are wearing a mask, and take it with you."

Queensland authorities will also prioritise vaccinations for childcare and school staff, fly-in fly-out workers, and freight and distribution centre workers.

Ms Palaszczuk said those groups have been added to the "high risk" category meaning they will go to the front of the vaccination queue.

"The Delta strain has taken a heavy toll on our schools and we need to provide the best possible protection for staff and students," the premier said.

Liberal National Party leader David Crisafulli called for mass vaccination hubs to be set up across the state.

"We've got to give every opportunity to let anyone who wants to get a vaccine to get one," he said.

"So to both levels of government: get on with it."

Meanwhile, businesses have been calling for support in addition to $5,000 lockdown grants promised previously.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland's Amanda Rohan said tax relief and other measures are needed.

The government also needs to provide a clear picture of how it plans to end the rolling lockdown, she said.

"Businesses owners have run out of emotional and financial capacity to endure further lockdowns," Ms Rohan said.

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