Queenslanders are waiting on edge to learn whether lockdown will be extended with the decision to be made within hours. 

Chief health officer Jeannette Young will review Sunday’s case numbers before deciding if she can safely lift the region’s eight-day lockdown at 4pm as planned.

All recent Covid cases in the state were in isolation while infectious, so the lockdown is tipped to be lifted. 

Sunday’s expected good new is despite Queenslanders days earlier being told the situation was so dire they should avoid online shopping so delivery drivers wouldn’t have to leave their homes.

Dr Young argued it would be better for residents to hold off on all non-essential purchases to reduce the risk of contact between customers and delivery drivers.

Queenslanders are waiting on edge to learn whether lockdown will be extended with the chief health officer expected to make the decision within hours

Queenslanders are waiting on edge to learn whether lockdown will be extended with the chief health officer expected to make the decision within hours

Dr Jeannette Young will review Sunday's case numbers before deciding if she can safely lift the region's eight-day lockdown as planned at 4pm

Dr Jeannette Young will review Sunday's case numbers before deciding if she can safely lift the region's eight-day lockdown as planned at 4pm

Dr Jeannette Young will review Sunday’s case numbers before deciding if she can safely lift the region’s eight-day lockdown as planned at 4pm

Deputy Premier Steven Miles reiterated the message that residents should only be leaving their homes if it was absolutely necessary.

‘It has to be essential and the onus is on the individual to have a reason to leave their home, not on retailers or businesses,’ he said at a press conference on Wednesday.

‘Now is not the time to buy outdoor furniture. There will be time before summer to get sun lounges.’ 

The likelihood of lockdown being lifted appears promising despite growing case numbers. 

All new infections have been linked to the Indooroopilly cluster, in Brisbane’s west, and most if not all new cases have been isolating while infectious.

Queensland recorded 13 new locally acquired cases on Saturday, all associated with the schools at Indooroopilly, Spring Hill, and St Lucia on the northern side of the Brisbane River.

All were in isolation while infectious.

Three are linked to a karate club that trains at Indooroopilly State High School, and four are household contacts linked to cases at the high school.

Five others are household contacts linked to Ironside State School, and one is a close contact associated with Brisbane Boys Grammar School.

There are now 102 cases linked to the so-called Indooroopilly cluster.

Dr Young has warned others will emerge among the more than 10,000 people currently in home quarantine.

Some families face extended periods in isolation as the virus jumps from one member to the next, resetting the two-week quarantine clock each time.

Queensland recorded 13 new locally acquired cases on Saturday, all associated with the schools at Indooroopilly, Spring Hill, and St Lucia on the northern side of the Brisbane River

Queensland recorded 13 new locally acquired cases on Saturday, all associated with the schools at Indooroopilly, Spring Hill, and St Lucia on the northern side of the Brisbane River

Queensland recorded 13 new locally acquired cases on Saturday, all associated with the schools at Indooroopilly, Spring Hill, and St Lucia on the northern side of the Brisbane River

All new infections have been linked to the Indooroopilly cluster, in Brisbane's west, and most if not all new cases have been isolating while infectious

All new infections have been linked to the Indooroopilly cluster, in Brisbane's west, and most if not all new cases have been isolating while infectious

All new infections have been linked to the Indooroopilly cluster, in Brisbane’s west, and most if not all new cases have been isolating while infectious

‘This is going to be a lengthy time for some of those people, because as each person in the household becomes positive, quarantine then extends for another 14 days from that point,’ Dr Young said on Saturday.

‘It is absolutely critical that no-one from any of those households goes out into the community.’

With case numbers in NSW hitting a record of 319 on Saturday, Queensland police have repeated warnings that anyone crossing the border will face intense scrutiny.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath expressed her disgust after two paramedics were forced into isolation after coming into contact with an unauthorised arrival from NSW.

‘If you turn up at the border without the proper exemptions you will end up in hotel quarantine,’ she told would-be travellers from NSW and Victoria.

Meanwhile, police have caught a woman who escaped from a quarantine hotel on the Gold Coast on Tuesday.

Officers say she had been in a COVID-19 hotspot in NSW before she illegally entered Queensland.

She was caught at Caboolture, north of Brisbane on Saturday, after a tip off from the public.

There were 40,835 tests carried out in Queensland in the 24 hours to 6am Saturday, and police patrolling the border intercepted more than 10,000 vehicles

There were 40,835 tests carried out in Queensland in the 24 hours to 6am Saturday, and police patrolling the border intercepted more than 10,000 vehicles

There were 40,835 tests carried out in Queensland in the 24 hours to 6am Saturday, and police patrolling the border intercepted more than 10,000 vehicles

Some families face extended periods in isolation as the virus jumps from one member to the next, resetting the two-week quarantine clock each time

Some families face extended periods in isolation as the virus jumps from one member to the next, resetting the two-week quarantine clock each time

Some families face extended periods in isolation as the virus jumps from one member to the next, resetting the two-week quarantine clock each time

Dr Young hopes the risk is low because the woman returned a negative test before she escaped from the hotel by forcing open a glass door.

Meanwhile, two people have copped hefty fines after they left lockdown in the southeast corner and travelled to Mackay to attend a party.

In the regional city of Rockhampton, there are encouraging signs the virus has not been widely transmitted after an infected woman travelled there for work.

All her close contacts have so far tested negative, five days into their quarantine period.

But Dr Young is less comfortable about the situation in Cairns, where a reef pilot was recently active in the community while infectious.

She wants anyone who is unwell in the Cairns area to immediately get tested so she can be more confident the virus isn’t spreading unchecked there.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is due to be released from hotel quarantine on Sunday morning after she returned a final negative test following her trip to Tokyo for the Olympics.

There were 40,835 tests carried out in Queensland in the 24 hours to 6am Saturday, and police patrolling the border intercepted more than 10,000 vehicles.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is due to be released from hotel quarantine on Sunday morning after she returned a final negative test following her trip to Tokyo for the Olympics (pictured, Brisbane residents queuing outside Lune Croissanterie despite lockdown orders)

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is due to be released from hotel quarantine on Sunday morning after she returned a final negative test following her trip to Tokyo for the Olympics (pictured, Brisbane residents queuing outside Lune Croissanterie despite lockdown orders)

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is due to be released from hotel quarantine on Sunday morning after she returned a final negative test following her trip to Tokyo for the Olympics (pictured, Brisbane residents queuing outside Lune Croissanterie despite lockdown orders)

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