Cairns residents will find out this morning if the state's health officials are comfortable enough with the latest COVID-19 numbers to lift the lockdown at 4:00pm.
The tropical city and the nearby Indigenous community of Yarrabah were thrown into a snap, three-day lockdown on Sunday afternoon after a taxi driver was infectious with the virus in the community for 10 days.
It is only the second time the city has been placed in lockdown since the pandemic began last year and the first time it has been singled out as a region.
Queensland Health said around 5,500 people had been tested in Cairns over a 24-hour period yesterday afternoon, with no new positive cases.
However, late yesterday Queensland Health listed new exposure sites that go back earlier, to July 23.
Those sites include Smithfield Shopping Centre, a Subway store, Bunnings and Anaconda.
Simon Smith, an infectious diseases physician at the Cairns Hospital, said the hospital had carried out 2,200 tests and private laboratories another 3,300.
Dr Smith said tests from private laboratories were being flown to Brisbane and could take 36 hours to return a result, however special rapid tests conducted by the hospital only took an hour.
"That's why the three-day lockdown is so important, so we can get the swabs done and the results back," he said.
Dr Smith said he had spoken to the taxi driver who had tested positive.
"I spoke to the taxi driver myself and he said he was meaning to come forward and get vaccinated but he hadn't done so," he said.
"Thankfully he is very well, he has been taken to a hospital in the south-east corner."
Yesterday there were 155 active cases in the state, with 13,271 people in home quarantine across Queensland.
More exposure sites added
Authorities believe the marine pilot who infected the taxi driver may have been infectious as early as July 23.
The pilot had travelled in the driver's taxi on the way to the airport for a flight to Brisbane and probably contracted the virus while working on a New Zealand ship.
The fully vaccinated pilot was initially considered infectious from July 29.
Queensland's chief health officer Jeannette Young has asked residents to keep checking the Health Department's website.
"We're going to have to go back and contact-trace to July 23," Dr Young said.
"Then that taxi driver took the pilot to the airport on July 26 and we know, through whole-genome sequencing, that those two are linked.
More support needed
Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick has announced an extra $70 million in support for businesses impacted by lockdowns in the state.
Mr Dick said the package included payroll tax deferrals for tourism and hospitality businesses.
However, the director of the Cairns Adventure Group, Roderic Rees — who runs several whitewater rafting companies — said the additional support was not enough.
"It's a step in the right direction, but not what the industry is calling out for," Mr Rees said.
"I'm surprised there is no wage support. I was hoping for a further announcement, like co-funding from the federal and state governments to establish a JobKeeper program, similar to what they have in New South Wales.
"My casual employees can't just go to a cafe or restaurant and get a job, because there is no job."
A decision on whether the lockdown will end today is expected to be made at a press conference by authorities at 10:00am.
