Overview
Queenslanders, get ready to flash your dazzling smiles in more places — including indoors. When the state hits the 80-percent single-vaccinated mark among eligible residents, mask rules will change, with covering your face no longer required inside in public spaces.
Even better: that single-jab threshold is set to be hit either today, Tuesday, November 9, or tomorrow, Wednesday, November 10. A statement from Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announcing the news noted that Queensland was at 79.6 percent late yesterday, Monday, November 8 — so yes, we really are that close.
Wearing masks has been a regular part of life in Queensland throughout the pandemic, with the requirements changing with frequency in the state's southeast — since the end of June in particular, thanks to multiple brief lockdowns and several stages of restrictions. Then, in mid-October, the Premier revealed Queensland's roadmap towards reopening its borders, with various travel rules set to ease at the 70-percent and 80-percent double-vaccinated thresholds. Now, ditching masks indoors at the 80-percent single-vaxxed mark is kicking in first.
As a result, in the coming days, masks will no longer be required inside at cafes, pubs, clubs, hairdressers, workplaces and schools, in a change from the current requirement to keep covering up indoors in public unless you're sitting down, entering or exiting hospitality venues, or eating or drinking.
BREAKING: Masks will no longer be required when 80% of eligible Queenslanders have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine 😷😁
That means no masks indoors including schools, cafés, pubs, clubs, hairdressers and workplaces. pic.twitter.com/NM1MHQMn2g
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) November 8, 2021
That said, Australia still has a standing mask mandate for flights and airports, so you'll need to keep masking up there.
Also, masks will remain strongly recommended if you're on public transport, and also if you can't socially distance — either indoors or outside.
"This is another small step back towards life as normal," said the Premier. "The more of us who are vaccinated, the faster we return to life the way it used to be. That means life without the need to wear masks except at airports and on planes."
For more information about the status of COVID-19 in Queensland, head to the QLD COVID-19 hub and the Queensland Health website.