South East Queensland's aged care restrictions were lifted yesterday and facilities are now open to visitors, with the exception of a Bolton Clarke home in Brisbane.
Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young announced that the restrictions, introduced at the start of the month, would be lifted after the state recorded only one new case on COVID-19 on Sunday, a person who had travelled overseas and is in hotel quarantine.
The announcement comes two days after the state's border with NSW closed.
"No community transmission in Queensland so that means that we can safely reopen our aged care facilities to visitors again,” said Dr Young.
"We still need to be very cautious, very careful at all times, because our aged care facilities have the most vulnerable people in our society living in them.”
Bolton Clarke’s Fairview aged care facility in Brisbane's South West will need to remain closed for another day and a half, Dr Young said.
Visits to aged-care homes had been banned at all aged care facilities in Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan, Redland, the Gold Coast and Scenic Rim.
Additional protections that were put in place, such as increased PPE and requesting staff to work as much as possible at one particular site, will remain.
