‘Epitome of stupid’: Brisbane residents slam Covid rules forcing motorists to wear a face mask while driving even if they’re alone in the car – as a man is arrested for refusing to cover up

• Brisbane backlash against ‘stupid’ and ‘crazy’ rule on masks in the car alone 
• Health logic: it’s easier for people to remember – but it has aggravated many
• First full day of lockdown sees people arrested for bare-face and refusing masks
• Police have 40,000 free masks for people. $200 fines not yet enforceable
• Queensland cops CAN direct you to go home – refuse that and risk a $1300 fine 
• Brisbane lockdown tinged with fear as second woman tests positive to UK strain 
• Authorities fear quarantine protocols not strong enough to contain mutant virus 
• Police crack down, turning away a dozen protesters at Botanic Gardens 

Brisbane residents have slammed Queensland Health for telling them to wear face masks when they drive, even if they are alone.

Queensland Health posted on Facebook informing users of the rule after the state government introduced new measures to stem the spread of the deadly disease.

‘Do I need to wear a mask in my vehicle? We’ve been getting this question a lot,’ the post read. ‘The answer is yes.’

Many residents were left enraged and baffled by the rule. 

Many questioned why they should be forced to wear a mask alone in their car when there is no risk of passing on a virus to anyone else.

The message came as the city entered its first full day of lockdown with police cracking down on anyone attempting to flaunt restrictions. 

Footage has emerged showing a middle-aged man being arrested for allegedly refusing to wear a mask. 

Queensland Health told Brisbane residents on Saturday that they have to wear a facemask when outside their homes – even if they were just in their cars alone, prompting outrage

Queensland Health’s post got an immediate reaction from people who said the rule was ‘crazy’

The lockdown applies to council areas of Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich, Moreton, and Redlands.

Residents are required to stay at home until 6pm on Monday and only go out for work if they can’t do so at home, for essential shopping or to provide healthcare for a vulnerable person in their local neighbourhood.  

Those living within the specified council areas will have to wear a mask when out in public, although children under the age of 12 are exempt.

The organisation said residents should wear a mask when they drive as it will encourage them to get into the habit of wearing a mask when they leave their home. 

‘I am not averse to wearing masks and have been doing so quite regularly. But this seems crazy,’ wrote one woman. 

‘In my car, especially when I’m alone seems a bit silly,’ wrote another.

‘My glasses fog up though so it would be unsafe to wear while I’m in my own vehicle as I can’t see clearly. What is the actual purpose of having to wear one in your own vehicle?’ wrote a man.

‘This is the epitome of stupidity… masks in your own car by yourself… who still trusts Qld health to give any kind of reasonable advice,’ wrote another.

A bare-faced man who turned up to protest in Brisbane’s Botanical Gardens was arrested and fined $1300 after first refusing a mask and then refusing a direction to go home (video above)

Others made fun of the directive.

‘Wearing a mask in a car is like wearing a condom at home by yourself,’ wrote one.

‘I like wearing mask in my car… stops me from licking the windows,’ wrote another.

‘Hey QLD Health. Just wondering if I need to wear a mask in my coffin when I die,’ wrote a third. 

‘We’re asking you to wear a mask in the car because a consistent approach helps keep people safe. We want you to wear a mask when you leave home – by whatever means, for whatever reason. Walk, drive or cycle – put a mask on when you leave home and keep it on, unless you’re taking it off for an allowed purpose,’ the post read.

‘If everyone in Greater Brisbane gets in the habit of putting a mask on whenever they leave home, we’re more likely to keep it on – and that’s the thing that will help keep people safe and reduce the likelihood of a longer lockdown.’

Queensland Health’s message was backed up by the state Health Minister Yvette D’Ath who said masks have to be worn outside the home at all times, including while driving.

‘If anyone in the Greater Brisbane area is leaving their home they must wear a mask throughout the entire period they are out until they get home,’ she wrote on Twitter.

A terrifying map shows the Brisbane locations which have been exposed to the UK’s mutant variant of the virus since January 2, including a busy train line, a Coles and a Woolworths

A man jogs with his face mask alone at South Bank, Brisbane on Day 1 of lockdown, Saturday

Brisbane residents were on the first full day of a snap lockdown on Saturday after the more contagious mutant UK strain of the virus broke out of hotel quarantine, infecting a hotel cleaner who roamed around Brisbane for days before testing positive on Wednesday.

There are fears current safety protocols won’t be enough to stop the mutant virus breaking out. 

One middle-aged and balding man in spectacles but no face mask turned up to Brisbane’s Botanical Gardens in the hope of joining a protest advertised by Facebook group Aussie Patriots Roll for noon on Saturday.

Queensland Police officers offered the man a mask but he refused, then told the man to go home, but he refused that also. 

When asked why, he said: ‘Because I want to go to that protest meeting, I feel it is important to send a message.’ 

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath backed up Health on wearing masks alone in your car

The minister was immediately told by Brisbanites that the rule was both ‘stupid’ and ‘insane’

The empty streets of Brisbane’s CBD on Saturday during the snap lockdown. A cleaner with the UK mutant coronavirus has been roaming Brisbane for days without knowing

‘We’re the ones that pay your bills for you,’ he told police, who are tasked with enforcing the Queensland public health directives. 

The man then struggled with police as he was handcuffed.

‘Take your hands off me,’ he screamed as the officers told him to stop resisting and not to be silly.

He could then be seen being cuffed and hauled into the back of a van. 

He has been issued a $1,300 infringement notice. 

Nine reported the man was one of a dozen anti-vaxxers who turned up to demonstrate in the Botanic Gardens but were turned away by a swarm of officers.

Aussie Patriots Roll, who advertised the anti-vaxxer protest on Facebook, also lists Chemtrails, abortions, and 5G as other issues they fight against. 

WHAT BRISBANE RESIDENTS CAN AND CAN’T DO DURING THE THREE-DAY LOCKDOWN 

Residents can only go outside for one of four essential reasons –  for work if they can’t do so from home, to do essential shopping or to provide healthcare for a vulnerable person in their local neighbourhood.

Only two guests are allowed inside the home. 

Masks must be worn when out in public although children under the age of 12 are exempt.

Funerals are limited to only 20 people and weddings to 10 people.

Queenslanders in other parts of the state should stay at home for the next three days if they have been in Greater Brisbane since January 2

Brisbane residents will have to wear a mask when out in public as part of a strict three-day lockdown imposed by the Queensland government. People arrive to get COVID-19 tested at the Parklands Christian College in Logan in Brisbane. 

One man, Andrew Morrisby, dressed in a corrugated iron Ned Kelly costume at the Cenotaph in Hobart asked if people had ‘got off their a**e and made it to any of the events today’, in a video on their page on Saturday.

‘We need to take our country back,’ he said. 

Event organizer Karen Brewer said earlier in the week: ‘Scott Morrison coming out yesterday saying there would be 4 million vaccinations by March – we do not comply!’

‘Everyone has the right to choose,’ she yelled during a livestream, saying also that early sign-ups to the Brisbane protest were ‘staggering’.

The Brisbane cleaner infected with the mutant UK strain,  lives in Algester and worked at the Hotel Grand Chancellor at Spring Hill (pictured), with her most recent shift on January 2

Queensland Police told Daily Mail Australia that the planned protest never eventuated in Brisbane and that police on foot patrol had come across the man without his mask in the Botanic Gardens.

‘The man was originally arrested for failing to comply with a Queensland Health Directive and was later released with a $1300 infringement notice,’ a police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia by telephone on Saturday.

Another man had turned up to protest, standing without a mask in the back of his white ute, hurling abuse at police.

‘Good, I’ll see you in court,’ he told police.

Another bare-faced man in Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall also refused a free face mask from police, then resisted arrest and was taken away in a van to be charged with contravening a police directive, Nine reported.

Queensland Police deputy commissioner Steve Gollschewski said it was ‘a pretty good deal’ when police were giving masks to people free.

Officers have been armed with 40,000 masks to help people comply with the compulsory public mask mandate, punishable by a $200 fine for non-compliance. 

However Mr Gollschewski said the legislation had not yet passed parliament so police were not able to enforce it.

Instead they can issue a direction to go home – and refusal to comply with that direction carries a far larger $1300 fine for breaching a direction of the Chief Health Officer. 

As of Saturday morning, Queensland Police had handed out four lockdown fines, three of which over people refusing to wear a mask.   

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