Hundreds of Queenslanders allowed to return home as pause on hotel quarantine ends

Hundreds of people have been given permission to return home to Queensland after the state's pause on hotel quarantine came to an end.

More than 600 residents had been trapped in New South Wales and other coronavirus hotspots, unable to make the journey back into Queensland after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced a snap ban on additional people entering hotel quarantine to ease pressure on the system.

One of those people is Ashlee Christensen's husband, who was meant to be home weeks ago but has been stuck in Sydney since the freeze was imposed.

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"You have so much excitement and joy but at the same time it's so unknown and just fear basically," Ms Christensen said.

On Saturday, 50 rooms in the hotel quarantine system reopened to welcome back priority cases, including people relocating to the state.

Doughnut day

Earlier today, Queensland recorded no new local COVID-19 cases after a four-year-old girl was infectious in the community for two days. 

Ms Palaszczuk called on residents to continue getting vaccinated as Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said the risk of a Beenleigh outbreak is decreasing. 

"We have tested all of the close contacts at the childcare centre the four-year-old attends, three staff and 17 children, and they are all negative which is really good," Dr Young said. 

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Staff and children at the Mount Warren Park State School who went on an excursion on Wednesday had also all tested negative. 

Children in after-school care at Windaroo State School were also being tested, with 34 of 36 returning a negative result. 

"We're just working with the last two children, two young girls who at this stage, their family does not want them to be tested, so we're just working through with the family until we get those results," Dr Young said. 

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As they wait, some 900 families will remain in home quarantine.

"So please can all of you as you've done so brilliantly, remain in quarantine," Dr Young said.

Ms Palaszczuk said it's vital for Queenslanders to continue getting vaccinated.

"We have got 53 percent of eligible Queenslanders who have had their first dose and 34.51 percent are fully vaccinated," Ms Palaszczuk said.  

"As I said yesterday and I will say it again, this is our window of opportunity, Queensland, to get vaccinated." 

Dr Young has said while there is no current outbreak of COVID-19 in Queensland, people still needed to abide by mask-wearing restrictions. 

"The biggest risk for us at the moment is freight drivers," she said. 

Dr Young said freight drivers were among the few groups exempt from cross-border travel. 

Ms Palaszczuk said there was a "sense of urgency" with Queensland's vaccine rollout, urging people to get the jab as quickly as possible. 

Dr Young said at the moment, 12 weeks remained the required time between the first and second doses of AstraZeneca, but this would change if there was a new outbreak.

One fined amid 'heartbreaking' border scenes on Father's Day

Police fined just one person at the Father's Day gathering on the Queensland-NSW border yesterday. 

Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said that person had been issued a PIN for not wearing a mask. 

He said most of the community had done the right thing at the event. 

Families being kept apart by the state border flocked to Tweed for Father's Day yesterday, so they could meet over the plastic barricade.

Tweed Shire Mayor Chris Cherry thanked police for their compassionate approach as some families brought picnics to spend time together, with officers encouraging social distancing but stopping short of breaking up the reunions.

"What we saw was the tip of the iceberg of the thousands of people and families that this is affecting," Ms Cherry told Today.

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She praised the police for doing an "incredible job" in allowing families to come together.

"Just the amount of compassion they showed, just that real understanding.

"The closest case of COVID we've got is 2.5 hours south. We haven't had a case of COVID here for more than 12 months. They showed a lot of compassion."

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Search for mystery salon patrons

Meanwhile, Dr Young has called on people who attended exposure site Stylish Nails to come forward for COVID-19 testing. 

She said "three or four" patrons remained unidentified. 

"We have them on CCTV footage, but we can't identify them through that," she said.  

"We are working with police and with the Stylish Nails salon to try and identify those people. 

"I am less concerned now that I have got information the person who was in the chair next to the four-year-old girl has tested negative, so we have identified that person, and the gentleman, our original case, sat one chair away, next to the entrance.  

"So, I think we have had the highest risk cases in that salon, but I would really like to find those other three or four customers that we have identified on CCTV footage."