Queensland imposes mask mandate for the first time since pandemic began

People in newly declared hotspot areas around Brisbane will be required to wear a mask when outside their home as part of a three-day lockdown.

The new restrictions mark the first time a mask mandate has been put in place in Queensland since the pandemic began almost a year ago.

LIVE UPDATES: Brisbane to go into three-day lockdown

The rules are part of a tough new lockdown being imposed on Greater Brisbane over the next three days.

Anyone from Moreton Bay regional council, Brisbane City, Redlands City, Logan City and Ipswich City will be unable to leave their home from 6pm today except for essential reasons.

People will only be allowed to leave their home if they are providing care to vulnerable persons, seeking health care, essential shopping and exercise in their local neighbourhood.

READ MORE: Greater Brisbane coronavirus restrictions: What are the lockdown rules?

If you do leave your home for one of the above reasons, you must wear a mask or face on-the-spot fines of up to $200.

The restrictions come as the Queensland Government clamps down on a highly infectious strain of COVID-19 from the UK detected in Brisbane yesterday.

"It is incredibly important in this time to stop the spread of this infectious UK strain, we must act immediately, we must act strongly and we have taken those strong measures today," Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.

Despite no new local cases of COVID-19 being detected overnight, the state's Chief Health Officer, Dr Jeanette Young, said the mandate was necessary to prevent an outbreak.

"This variant of the COVID-19 virus is 70 per cent more contagious. So, that means it will spread much more rapidly and to many more people," she said.

READ MORE: 'We are going hard and we are going early'

"The idea here is we want to minimise the number of people who get infected."

"The next three days will give us a chance to work out how much spread there's been. It will be too late if on Monday, I stand up here in front of you and say, 'We've had 10 cases and they have been out infectious in the community infecting people'.

"We can't put it back in the box."

Brisbane joins Greater Sydney and Victoria as having compulsory masks in some settings.