Queensland recorded 10 new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 on Friday as authorities faced tough questions about restrictions and the end of lockdown.When asked whether masks would be worn through to Christmas, even if there were no further lockdowns, chief health officer Jeannette Young said it was “possible.”“Masks are just so critical with this Delta variant, they really and truly are, and it is an issue that if we want to try and avoid lockdowns, we are going to have to get used to wearing masks,” Dr Young said.“Hopefully, it won’t be through till Christmas, but it could be.”The 11 local government areas of South East Queensland are in their sixth day of strict lockdown, which the chief health officer hopes she can ease as planned at 4pm on Sunday. Authorities would not comment on what restrictions would look like after the end of lockdown, saying the situation was being monitored daily.“It actually depends how we go over the next few days as to what point we are at and then the advice I will provide, so it is a bit too early,” Dr Young said. “But there will still be restrictions, there always are restrictions after you remove a lockdown, but the specifics of those restrictions, I just need to see how things track over the next few days.”It comes as police aired their dismay at Queenslanders who were not taking mask-wearing restrictions seriously over the lockdown period.People in Queensland must wear a mask indoors and outdoors at all times, except for in the home.Police have issued 57 penalty infringement notices during the lockdown and arrested two people.Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said residents needed to abide by the rules.“It an area that we need to do a little better in,” he said.“Yesterday we handed out the most masks ever, 302. So that means that that 302 people were not only not wearing masks, they weren‘t carrying them. And we did issue 10 penalty infringement notices.“That is the simplest thing to do, carry a mask and wear it when you should and we will be lot safer.”The new cases have been linked to the Indooroopilly cluster, which has resulted in the infection of dozens of children from three Brisbane high schools and a primary school. Five of Thursday’s cases are household contacts of Ironside State School cases, three are household contacts of Indooroopilly State High School students, and two are household contacts of Brisbane Boys Grammar School cases. Only two of the new cases were infectious in the community for one day during the lockdown.“This is very encouraging news that we only have those 10 cases, five of them are children, five of them are adults,” Dr Young said.“They were all in quarantine at the time, they were all household contacts, and just those two people had each had one day infectious in the community while the community was in lockdown.“So that is all very reassuring, but we’ve got to keep it up for the next few days, we are not there yet.”rhiannon.tuffield@news.com.au
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