Authorities in Brisbane have asked residents to reconsider leaving their homes as lockdown restrictions extend to August 8.
Steven Miles noted on Wednesday that government officials still see many people on the street browsing for or shopping non-essential things.
While people can leave their homes for essential items like medication and groceries, Steven reminded Brisbane residents that the exemption does not cover “discretional items.”
“It has to be essential, and the onus is on the individual to have a reason to leave their home, not on retailers or businesses,” Miles noted.
He said police are now employing RBT-style techniques to determine whether people leave their homes for essential items.
Retail Association Kicks Against “Contradictory” Directions
Following the announcement by the Queensland government, the National Retail Association decried the “constantly changing and contradictory directions from the Queensland Government” and that the new lockdown announcement is appalling.
Dominic Lamb, the CEO of NRA, noted that “The Queensland Government is taking no responsibility for the damage they are inflicting on small businesses.”
Part of the “contradictory” directions alleged by the association was the announcement by the Queensland government that people should shop online, which officials have now reversed. The reversal, according to authorities, is to reduce the number of delivery agents in the community.
Ms. Lamb contends that business owners are unsure of planning their businesses and don’t even know what rights or responsibilities they have.
The present lockdown took effect on Saturday by 4 pm and was supposed to end on Tuesday. However, the government extended it to Sunday.
The extension became necessary because of 17 new cases recorded on Wednesday, 16 of which are traceable to the Indooroopilly cluster, while the remaining one found in Cairns is not linked.
Chief Health Officer Cautions Against Needless Outings
Jeannette Young, Queensland Chief Health Officer, asked residents of the 11 local governments under lockdown to consider whether they needed to leave their homes.
According to her, the virus is spreading quickly because people are not obeying the stay-at-home rules. She threatened that if people refuse to comply with the lockdown, they might have to extend it.
“If we don’t do something really, really, really special in Queensland, we’ll be extending the lockdown.
”Dr. Young said that the present variant is different from the one discovered in 2019. As such, residents cannot go for gardening tools or pot plants in Bunnings like they did last year.
