And just like that Brisbane has locked down.
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At 5pm today, Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and Redlands went into a three-day lockdown after the state recorded four locally-acquired coronavirus cases overnight.
Two were close contacts of another case and the other two were under investigation.
From a health perspective, limiting movement to stop the spread of the highly contagious UK strain of COVID is a no-brainer, but the three-day lockdown is another huge blow to the already struggling tourism industry.
The restrictions have been implemented just a day after the JobKeeper supplement ended.
Almost one million Australian workers were still receiving the subsidy and Treasury estimates up to 150,000 jobs could be lost without the wage supplement.
With Easter only around the corner and other jurisdictions across the country declaring Brisbane a hotspot, one can only imagine how many people will choose to cancel their trips to Queensland due to the unpredictable nature of border closures.
Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind said the lockdown could spell the end for some tourism operators.
"It's been a really, really tough year for the industry across the state, across the nation, and we certainly were hoping and planning for an Easter that would rebuild confidence and give a bit of cheer to the tourism operators who desperately need additional revenue," he said.
Lockdowns will likely play a role in the nation's fight against coronavirus until enough of the population has been vaccinated, so there needs to be readily available financial support for businesses and staff members when these restrictions are put in place.
Let's hope the Brisbane outbreak is under control soon and those impacted by this lockdown are given the assistance needed to recover.
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