Cairns lock down to end today

Douglas Shire residents can breathe a sigh of relief after Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced this morning that the Cairns lock down will end at 4pm today.

On Sunday, Premier Palaszczuk proclaimed that Cairns and the Indigenous community in Yarrabah had been put into lockdown after an unexpected case had thrown contact tracers.

Addressing media, she said she “was very concerned” after a taxi driver was infectious in the community for 10 days and said more testing had to be done.

In praising the Cairns residents for “doing the right thing”, she said the Cairns lock down was being lifted after Queensland recorded just four new cases of COVID-19 linked to the Indooroopilly cluster and all are in home quarantine.  

Ms Palaszczuk said the zero transmission in Cairns meant it could come out of lockdown at 4:00pm, but restrictions would continue. This includes wearing of masks and limits on the number of people allowed in businesses.

"I want to thank the Cairns community in advance because this is what we're asking you to do — exactly what the 11 LGAs are doing down here in the south-east.

"And that will apply, of course, until Sunday, August 22," she said.

Newsport reported yesterday that the decision to lock down Cairns had some businesses and tourism leaders questioning if this was ‘alarmist’.

And there were fears that if the border closures continued, and more cases emerged in the Far North, Port Douglas could become a ghost town.

Tara Bennett, CEO of Tourism Port Douglas Daintree (TPDD), said the Cairns lockdown had effectively cut Douglas off from the rest of Australia.

“Visitation has come to a standstill, and while we may not be in lock down, almost every market is locked out, and the few who were looking to fly in and transfer direct to the destination, have limited options in how they will travel here,” she said.

Port Douglas businesses have suffered dramatically because of lock downs and closures and many have reduced their hours or even shut down until matters improve.

One hospitality leader said their industry is holding onto staff during this ‘dead period’. However, what is of major concern is that travellers are leaving in droves as Port Douglas is ‘too up and down for them’. And when the visitor flow returns, there will be no staff.

FURTHER READING: Douglas Chamber digs in to help Shire businesses