Brisbane three-day lockdown a ‘short, sharp shock’ against UK strain

Her decision was supported by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who described the move as “very sensible” and the Brisbane outbreak as “a serious situation”.

The Prime Minister on Friday also announced all returning international travellers must test negative for the virus before boarding a flight back to Australia as the UK variant spreads globally.

Former Queensland Chief Health Officer and QUT Emeritus Professor Gerry Fitzgerald said the decision to go into a three-day lockdown was akin to a “short, sharp shock”.

Professor Fitzgerald said contact tracing was the key strategy used when there were low numbers of cases in the community, and the best way to support contact tracing was to reduce human-to-human contact.

“What I think is behind…