Give yourself a pat on the bloody back, Queensland, because you’re officially getting live music venues back this weekend.
It’s as your state’s border restriction-loving Premier Annastacia Palaszczu today announced plans to initiate phase 3 of the COVID-19 roadmap one week earlier than planned, with further pandemic-inflicted restrictions being rolled back from midday this Friday (July 3).
It means concert venues, theatres and auditoriums can reopen at 50% of their maximum operating capacity, or with one person per four square metres (whichever is greater). And as a result, a whole bunch of live music venues throughout the sunshine state will be allowed to re-open this weekend.
It comes after a few trailblazing small venues including The Zoo in Fortitude Valley announced plans to re-open early with a series “socially-distanced” gigs, almost all of which have completely sold-out well in advance.
Meanwhile, a week after entering its phase 3 restriction rollback, Queensland will on July 10 reopen its borders to all Australian states and territories bar poor old Victoria, who are still grappling with a vengeful resurgence of COVID-19 cases and implementing postcode-based lockdowns in a bid to squash the spread.
FYI any person who’s been in Victoria within 14 days prior to entering Queensland will be required by law to self-isolate in a hotel room for two weeks on their own dime, which doesn’t sound like a good time.
“Our global economy has been hit hard by COVID-19, but Queensland’s strong health response means we can kick-start our economy more quickly,” Palaszczuk tweeted. “We know there’s a long road ahead. That’s why we’re focused on Queensland’s plan for economic recovery.
“We cannot risk the hard work of Queenslanders and put our plan for economic recovery at risk.”
Meanwhile, Western Australia is leading the pack, with a tentative plan to axe all gathering restrictions from July 18, thus paving the way for major live music events to make their glorious return.
Hopefully this means we’re well on the road back to the moshpit.
