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Some coronavirus restrictions will ease in Queensland next weekend, the Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says.
Key points:
- Queensland will lift some of its stay-at-home directions from Saturday.
- Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said only three new positive cases were recorded overnight
- The state's total is now 1,030 COVID-19 cases, with 98,000 tests conducted
The changes will kick in first thing Saturday.
"Because we have done such a terrific job of flattening the curve, after discussions with the Chief Health Officer, from next Friday we will be able to lift some of the stay-at-home restrictions," Ms Palaszczuk said.
"From midnight on Friday [Saturday morning], you will be able to go for a drive," she said, adding that people must remain within 50 kilometres of their home.
"If you are over 65 or over 70 … I would suggest going for a drive during the week, Monday to Friday, because on the weekends it's family time."
Some of the other changes include allowing families to go on picnics together if they are members of the same household.
Single people will be able to go with one other person.
Shopping for non-essential items like clothes and shoes will also be permitted.
Some national parks will also reopen, but the Government has not yet revealed which ones.
"I think this is a positive move," Ms Palaszczuk said.
"If we do see mass gatherings, I will not hesitate to clamp back down."
The state has recorded three new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, bringing its total number of cases to 1,030.
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"Just 98 of those cases are active," the Health Minister Steven Miles said.
Queensland's Chief Health Officer, Jeannette Young, said she firmly believed that if Queenslanders kept adhering to restrictions, there would not be new cases.
"What we're saying is, as of next Saturday morning, that Queenslanders still in their own household group — so without going and mixing with additional people — they can now go out into the community and as long as they maintain social distancing from other people, there should be no increase in cases," she said.
"They can of course, if they go out by themselves, meet up with one other person. That's already been the case.
"And it's important they continue to do that it in their own community, so that's now been defined … so within 50 kilometres of where their principal place of residence is."
Dr Young warned that social distancing was still vital, with one of the new cases locally acquired in north Brisbane and authorities still tracking its source.
Environment Minister Leanne Enoch said campgrounds would remain closed.
Recreational areas including Bribie Island and Cooloola would also still be closed to four-wheel-driving.
The State Opposition welcomed the easing of some restrictions but said it should be extended to restaurants and cafes.
"What we now have to start looking at is reviving the economy again and one of the ways we can do that is start looking at opening up restaurants and cafes," LNP Deputy Leader Tim Mander said.
He said the State Government should "trust that our small business people understand the implications if the infection rate increases again".
"They'll have to be innovative and flexible but we have full confidence that that industry can actually do that and we can get this economy up and going again."
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Independent Schools want senior students allowed back
It comes after Independent Schools Queensland (ISQ) wrote to the Premier calling for Year 11 and 12 students to be back in the classroom as soon as possible, after other states and territories made the move last week.
It said special consideration should be given to senior secondary students as they were in a critical phase of their education, with the state adopting the ATAR system for tertiary entrance for the first time this year.
ISQ executive director David Robertson said Queensland students should not be disadvantaged compared to their interstate counterparts.
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"Senior secondary is a most critical phase of schooling and every effort should be made to have minimal disruption to continuity of quality teaching and learning for these students," he said.
"Northern Territory [students] are back, [in] Western Australia they're encouraging them to be back and South Australia, which I think next week they are all being encouraged to be back," Mr Robertson said.
He said ideally Queensland senior students should be back in the classroom by May 6.
Mr Robertson also wants to see Prep to Year 3 students return to school.
"Whilst this may not be possible in terms of an immediate return, this group should [also] be considered for a return as soon as possible," he said.
The Queensland Teachers Union (QTU), which has strongly advocated against students and staff going to school during the coronavirus pandemic, supports the call for senior students to return to campus.
"They're a manageable group of students," QTU President Kevin Bates said.
"When we have more than 3,000 teachers who must work at home because of their vulnerability to COVID-19, then that restricts the number of teachers available in our schools.
"We know that if we took Year 11 and 12 as a cohort, we could accommodate them in terms of classroom space and the number of teachers available to teach."
But for the other year groups, Mr Bates said the union was "not convinced yet that the evidence is clear around the fact that everyone can be safe in schools."
"For us the critical issue all the way along has been the safety of our students and staff in schools."
What you need to know about coronavirus:
Topics: epidemics-and-pandemics, covid-19, federal---state-issues, health-policy, travel-health-and-safety, federal---state-issues, government-and-politics, diseases-and-disorders, infectious-diseases-other, respiratory-diseases, brisbane-4000, qld
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