Here’s hoping the Easter Bunny cops an exemption to Brisbane’s COVID-19 lockdown because it looks all but certain that the city’s lockdown will be extended over the long weekend.
The lockdown is currently due to be lifted at 5:00pm on Thursday, ahead of the Easter long weekend, but Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Jeanette Young said it is “too early to decide” if they will stick to the original deadline.
“We’ll just have to see how many cases we have and whether or not they’re linked and whether or not they’re in quarantine at the time that they’re diagnosed,” Young said, according to the ABC.
In an interview with the Courier Mail, infectious disease physician Associate Professor Paul Griffin said an extension will be inevitable if the state records similar numbers on Wednesday as it did on Tuesday.
“We have clear community transmission that’s increased over the last few days and if we don’t do everything we can to get on top of this we could be in for a very difficult time here in Queensland,” he told the Courier Mail.
“It definitely makes sense to do everything possible to try and contain this as quickly as possible.”
Similarly, Griffith University’s infectious disease expert Nigel McMillan said he’d bet on it being extended.
“My gut feeling is if we get similar numbers (Wednesday) as we have today, then we will go for another couple of days,” he told the Courier Mail.
