Good afternoon members and partners,

Unfortunately, due to the travels of an un-vaccinated hospital worker again – various parts of Queensland are heading into a lockdown period.

Below we have outlined what members need to know if you are in the local government areas and for the rest of the state as we understand there are many Queenslanders currently travelling with school holidays.

THREE DAY LOCKDOWN – SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND, TOWNSVILLE, MAGNETIC & PALM ISLANDS

The Queensland Government has announced a three-day lockdown, from 6pm tonight (29 June) until 6pm Friday (2 July) for the following areas:

  • 11 South East Queensland Local Government Areas (LGA’s): Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan City, Moreton Bay, Redlands, Sunshine Coast, Noosa, Somerset, Lockyer Valley, Scenic Rim and Gold Coast.
  • Townsville LGA
  • Magnetic & Palm Islands


PEOPLE IN THESE AREAS CAN ONLY LEAVE HOME FOR ONE OF THESE FOUR REASONS:

  1. To buy essentials like groceries or medications
  2. Work or study if you can’t do either from home
  3. Exercise locally
  4. Healthcare or to provide help, care or support.

Residents of these areas must also wear masks everywhere except at home.

 

HOTELS CAN OPEN FOR TAKE-AWAY FOOD AND BEVERAGE

  • Hotels can provide takeaway food and beverage services.
  • There is to be no on-premise trading activity.
  • Customers can order, pay and collect their take-away purchases from within the venue. Note – as people are required to wear masks outside, a ‘No Mask, No Service’ policy should be enforced.

 

ACCOMMODATION GUESTS

Accommodation rooms are treated as residences for the duration of a customer’s stay. Guests should only leave their rooms for one of the four reasons above. If a guest chooses to, they can check out and return directly home if within the lockdown period.

I have had some very good questions regarding what to do with guests booking in this evening or tomorrow.

Pre 6pm tonight – Members in the areas stipulated can accept bookings, however, best practice in other states has been that if a guest is obviously arriving from a lockdown area, they should be advised to get a COVID test both tomorrow and the next day to ensure they are not infectious. Any guest staying in a member hotel in the lockdown area would have to maintain their lockdown in Queensland regardless if they got the “all clear”.

Post 6pm tonight until Friday 6pm – Members can choose to refuse bookings that are obviously from people in the lockdown local government areas. If a guest presents at the property that is obviously from a lockdown area, your organisation must make a call on your procedures. This will be difficult, particularly as many Queenslanders are returning from holidays and may justifiably be travelling back after an extended period.

Our largest concern is for staff members and that they are not exposed to COVID-19 or to protracted arguments with guests. Our suggestion is to make your decision on this procedure as soon as possible, advise any guests that have booked already and ensure you staff are well briefed.

There are the scenarios of genuine business travel (i.e. Bernie flies to Townsville tomorrow on genuine business) the person can stay and leave for any of the four stated reasons.

Similarly, a guest may have a place of residence in the lockdown area but is not necessarily arriving from there. (i.e. Damian lives in Ascot but is returning from a caravan trip to Winton and wants to stop in Gladstone) – this is perfectly fine.

As I have outlined many times before, you or your staff are not the “COVID Cops”.

 

WHEN DO I HAVE TO WEAR A MASK? 

ONLY FOR SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND, TOWNSVILLE, MAGNETIC AND PALM ISLAND

For the period of the lockdown, face masks must be worn at all times when you are outside of your home including in the following settings:

  • shopping (retail, supermarkets and shopping centres)
  • on public/shared transport and waiting areas for public/shared transport
  • weddings and funerals (THESE ARE NOT ALLOWED DURING LOCKDOWN)
  • while waiting for takeaway food
  • Takeaway service staff should wear a mask.

Children 12 years and under and people affected by a medical condition are exempt. You do not have to wear a mask at home.

As always, this is a difficult situation for many members. However, we have been through this before. We survived and excelled – I have little doubt that we will do it again.

Spread the word to all your staff members and their families to get tested if they are in any doubt.

Please keep continuing your COVID Safe practices and should you have any questions, contact the QHA at any time.

Regards,
Bernie