Masks will have to be worn in shops and retail centres again as the mandate makes a comeback for the Christmas and New Year period.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said compulsory mask-wearing would come into effect at 1am Saturday and would apply for the whole of Queensland.
They will have to be worn in essential shopping venues where vaccinated and unvaccinated people are likely to mix.
But masks but will not be required in pubs, clubs and other venues were the jab mandate barring unvaccinated patrons came into effect on Friday.
It comes as the Sunshine Coast recorded two new cases of the coronavirus among 20 news cases overnight – 16 in the community and four in quarantine.
Ms Palaszczuk noted escalating cases in NSW when making the announcement and warned that with the borders now open we would get many more cases in Queensland.
As well as retail, masks will be mandatory in hospitals and aged care, public transport, ride-sharing and airports, but would not be required outdoors or in workplaces.
The ruling will be revised when 90 per cent of Queenslanders are fully vaccinated in early January.
Ms Palaszczuk said the measure was needed to protect people and to slow the spread of the virus with thousands of people visiting Queensland from interstate over the coming weeks.
“This is a small price to pay for your freedoms,” Ms Palaszczuk told reporters on Friday.
“We are asking this to slow the spread of the virus.
“So in shops in retail, so we know Christmas is some of the busiest times of the year for families doing their Christmas shopping and getting ready.
“I want Queenslanders to enjoy their Christmas and their holidays.”
However, Ms Palaszczuk said “there won’t be any lockdowns over Christmas” and that masks would rule out stronger restrictions.
It comes after Queensland recorded 22 cases of COVID on Thursday of which 18 were community acquired.
The Sunshine Coast was among a list of cities where the infections were detected.
Meanwhile, NSW recorded its highest daily infection rate to date on Friday, with 2213 people diagnosed with the virus from more than 127,000 tests in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday.
The escalating case numbers are being driven by super-spreading events at large venues like pubs and nightclubs, exacerbated by the highly-transmissible Omicron variant.
The rising transmission rates prompted NSW Health to announce restricted visits to health facilities.
Patients will be allowed visitors for compassionate reasons only and to provide essential needs including palliative care and supporting women in childbirth.
All visitors must be fully vaccinated and follow mask-wearing rules.
The latest significant cluster emerged from a Taylor Swift-themed dance party in the Sydney CBD on Friday.
At least 97 people have tested positive so far, NSW Health said on Thursday evening, with at least some of the cases likely to be the Omicron variant.
All 600 people who arrived at the Metro Theatre after 9pm were designated close contacts and forced to isolate for a week.
A series of super-spreader events in Newcastle have caused a wave of infections in the Hunter area.
The majority are the Omicron variant.
Two 20-year-old men have been fined for attending one of the events – a Wednesday evening party at a nightclub – in defiance of self-isolation orders after they were designated as close contacts.
They both later tested positive. More than 200 people contracted the virus at the party.
Health authorities are now urging the Newcastle community to consider delaying social events until after Christmas to keep family gatherings safe.
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Authorities are so concerned by the situation they’ve ordered the cancellation of a music festival scheduled to take place in the city on Saturday.
It comes exactly a year after a Sydney airport worker tested positive after a run of COVID-zero in NSW.
That case set in motion a COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney’s northern beaches, with the peninsula locked down and the rest of Sydney subject to caps on numbers for Christmas and New Year’s Eve events.
Premier Dominic Perrottet is adamant he won’t go back to the lockdowns and restrictions that dominated before NSW reached its high vaccination rate – currently 93.3 per cent.
The rules for masks and check-ins were relaxed on Wednesday despite the rising case numbers, with the unvaccinated now able to participate fully in society.
One new death was also announced on Friday, with 215 people in hospital – up from 23 on the day before – with 24 of them in ICU.
Intensive care numbers peaked at 244 in September, ten days after the state recorded its previous record of 1599 local cases.
-with AAP
