Brisbane's three-day snap lockdown will end at midday today after just one new locally acquired case of COVID-19 was identified overnight.
The new local case is linked to an existing cluster, while another nine cases were diagnosed in hotel quarantine.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said "Easter is good to go" as she announced the ending of the lockdown.
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She said the lockdown would lift early to avoid a rush of cars on the road.
"I understand a lot of families in the Greater Brisbane have made plans and the last thing we want to see are accidents on our roads at 5pm this afternoon into the evening," Ms Palaszczuk said.
"So if you have plans, the lockdown is lifted from 12 noon today and I encourage people to take care on the roads."
While the lockdown will lift today, a number of restrictions will remain in place for all of Queensland.
For the next two weeks from midday today until April 15, the following restrictions will apply:
- Mandatory masks in public indoor spaces, including shopping centres, indoor workplaces and public transport
- Masks must be carried whenever you leave home
- Patrons must remain seated at food and beverage establishments and the two-square-metre rule will apply
- Household gatherings will be limited to 30 people
- No dancing in public venues
- Outdoor events can proceed with a COVID-safe plan but if attendees are unable to socially distance, masks must be worn
- No personal visitors allowed at aged care homes, disability care, hospitals and correctional facilities, with some exceptions for end-of-life care
Easter church services have also been given the go-ahead, with the two-square-metre rule to apply and mask-wearing mandatory.
Churches may fill to 100 per cent capacity if they have a ticketed event.
The ban on visitors to aged care and disability facilities, hospitals and prisons will remain in place over Easter.
The restrictions will likely remain for the next fortnight, with only end-of-life visits permitted.
"They can't have other visitors which I know is very, very difficult over this Easter period," Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeanette Young said.
"Hopefully when we get all of those sites vaccinated in the future, we won't have to do that again but we need to, at the moment, protect our most vulnerable."
Deputy Premier Steven Miles described the ongoing ban on visits to aged care homes as "particularly distressing" for residents and family members but "unfortunately necessary".
"Only a third of aged care residents have been vaccinated and almost no aged care workers have been vaccinated so far," he said.
"Similarly, very, very few residents of disability support accommodation have been vaccinated.
"Until we see a higher density of vaccination in aged care, then those lockdowns will need to continue to be applied if and when we have our outbreaks."
New local COVID-19 case 'not a risk at all'
Dr Young described the latest person to test positive in Queensland as "the perfect case".
The individual was one of those who attended the hen's party in Byron Bay last weekend.
"When the person came back to Queensland, they went into quarantine and they were tested on Monday night and they were negative on Monday night," Dr Young said.
"Then they were tested again Wednesday morning when they were positive, so they have been in quarantine during their infectious period – so not a risk at all."
Dr Young said the extensive COVID-19 testing being done made her "reasonably confident" Queensland was successfully managing its two clusters.
"The amount of testing over the last 48 hours has been astronomical," she said.
"Thank you to every single person who has come forward."
Outbreak 'not over'
Queensland's two outbreaks are "not over", Dr Young warned.
"We're not completely cleared yet," she said.
"We think we can manage it with those restrictions and with the response that we have seen from Queenslanders, but it doesn't mean the outbreak is over.
"It just means that I don't believe we need the lockdown to manage this outbreak going forward.
"We can use those other restrictions and the response that Queenslanders have put in."
She said it remained vital Queenslanders all followed the restrictions in place, particularly around wearing masks and limiting gatherings in private residences.
Dr Young noted most of the infections related to the current outbreak have occurred within private residences.
"We saw it with that party down at Byron Bay," she said.
"Those 11 people, they were in an Airbnb, so a private residence, and now all of them, virtually all of them, have become infected."
Returned overseas travellers 'a real risk'
There are now 82 active coronavirus cases being treated in hospitals across Queensland.
Of those, 68 are returned travellers and 14 are locally acquired cases.
"That's a real risk for us because I think we are the highest state in the country at the moment with the most number of active cases in hospital who are returned travellers from overseas," Ms Palaszczuk said.
"In light of that, I have written to the Prime Minister to ask for another further extension to the end of April in terms of reducing our capacity of returned travellers."
The state inoculated another 7596 high-priority individuals yesterday, with the total number vaccinated in the state now at 79,534.
"We give out our figures every day and it would be great to see the Commonwealth do exactly the same," Ms Palaszczuk said.
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Dr Miles said the nine new overseas cases highlighted the ongoing risks posed by travellers bringing back new, highly infectious COVID-19 strains.
"I just underline again that we would not be facing risks like this if the Morrison Government had engaged with us on the construction of a national quarantine facility," he said.
The deputy premier said Queensland currently had just three days' supply of the Pfizer vaccine and 12 days' supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine and "at current rates that could be just eight to nine days".
"If you think about the fact that that is the vaccine that we are distributing to our regions and to our remote communities, we need ample supply of that to ensure our hospitals have it."
All frontline COVID-19 workers will be vaccinated by midday
All those working on the frontlines with individuals potentially infected with COVID-19 in Queensland will have been vaccinated by midday today, Dr Young said.
This includes paramedics, hotel quarantine staff and those working in COVID-19 wards in the state's hospitals.
She noted this did not apply to other frontline health workers who didn't work directly with COVID-19 patients, saying they would be vaccinated over the next month as part of the phase 1B vaccinations.
"My advice is that by midday today we believe that all of the 1A frontline workers who are looking after hotel quarantine or hospital cases will be vaccinated," Dr Young said.
"Remembering that people come in and out of that category – it's not a fixed category.
"We know that there are 37,000 but some of them will have gone back to other duties and other people will be coming in.
"But the requirement now is before you can actually come in and be a frontline worker looking after a positive case, you have to be vaccinated."
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Call to remove Brisbane as hotspot as travellers fly in to Queensland
Ms Palaszczuk said in a positive sign for the revival of the state's tourism industry, Gold Coast Airport recorded a record number of people flying in yesterday.
"I understand Cairns Airport is doing well as well, so we are expected a very good Easter," Ms Palaszczuk said.
"We're lifting Greater Brisbane as being a hotspot and I'm asking all other leaders across the country to consider doing the same as well."
"But if you are coming to Queensland, you'll have to abide by these restrictions in terms of mask-wearing, just as the same as everybody else.
"Really when you think about it, it's a small thing to do, but it means that we can go out, support our businesses, support our tourism industry, and spend time with our loved ones which is, you know, a really special time of the year."
One person fined for breaking lockdown
Police have handed out 572 masks to community members in the past 24 hours and conducted 92 inspections of businesses, Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski revealed.
One young man was fined for breaching lockdown orders earlier today.
"Regrettably this morning a young male was issued with a penalty infringement notice for failing to comply with a health direction, that is not being out for a permitted purpose. In fact he was out for an unlawful purpose," Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski said.
Another person was issued with a notice to appear in court after refusing a police direction to wear a mask at Brookside Shopping Centre yesterday.
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