Masks Will Remain Mandatory in Greater Brisbane for a Further Week

In a bid to contain the most recent coronavirus outbreak, the Queensland Government made wearing masks compulsory across southeast Queensland in late June. It then extended that requirement in Brisbane and several other parts of the state until mid-July, and then extended it again for 11 Local Government Areas in and around Brisbane for another week. So, the news that masking up will continue to be mandatory in parts of Brissie for a further week really shouldn't come as a surprise.

Today, Thursday, July 22, Deputy Premier Steven Miles announced a number of changes to Greater Brisbane's current COVID-19 restrictions, including easing gathering and venue caps — however, in the Brisbane City Council, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich, Redlands, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Noosa, Somerset, Lockyer Valley and Scenic Rim LGAs, masks are staying. You'll now need to keep wearing them as you are now until 6am on Friday, July 30.

If you need a refresher, the mask rules apply whenever you're spending time indoors somewhere other than your own home. In those situations, you must wear a mask. They must be worn in all indoor spaces other than your home, all indoor workplaces unless it is unsafe to do so, on public transport, and in taxis and ride share vehicles. And, outdoors, you need to wear them when social distancing isn't possible.

Accordingly, you always need to have a mask with you. The Deputy Premier also advised that masks will now be mandated in all indoor ticketed venues, including stadiums, theatres and cinemas, statewide as well.

"It's great to see the restrictions or ease from 6am tomorrow, but I have for an additional week asked for people please wear their masks," said Queensland's Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young at the same press conference. "We know that has protected us. I'm positive the reason we've not had communities spread recently is because people have been genuinely wearing their masks," she continued.

Queensland currently has 26 active cases, with none reported in the past 24 hours.

As always, the usual requests regarding social distancing, hygiene and getting tested if you're feeling even the slightest possible COVID-19 symptoms also still apply — as they have since March last year.

For more information about the status of COVID-19 in Queensland, head to the QLD COVID-19 hub and the Queensland Health website.