Queensland's vaccine rollout is about to surge as Cairns braces for the possibility of a new COVID-19 cluster and the NSW crisis creeps north towards the border.
The far northern tourist city and the neighbouring town of Yarrabah are in a three-day lockdown after a marine pilot who guides ships through the Great Barrier Reef passed the virus on to a taxi driver.
It's presumed the marine pilot infected the driver during a ride to Cairns Airport.
What no one can yet explain is why the cabbie wasn't identified as a close contact of that marine pilot, who tested positive a week ago, on August 2.
Contact tracers are scrambling to identify every person the driver came into contact with during the 10 days he was infectious in the community.
That's no small task given he spent seven of those days driving passengers around Cairns on July 30 and 31, and August 1 to 5.
The driver was not vaccinated. His household contacts are awaiting test results.
Contact tracers are also reviewing the marine pilot's contacts to make sure no one else was missed.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young has denied it was a major failure by contact tracers.
"We do our absolute best. We work with individuals but the individuals don't always know everything," she told reporters on Monday.
"That's why we have to keep restrictions in place for another two weeks. We hope we've got everyone but we don't know we've got everyone."
Cairns exposure sites include the gaming lounge of the Brothers Leagues Club, two medical centres, and a supermarket.
There was better news for the state's southeast corner with all four new community acquired cases linked to the Indooroopilly cluster, with all in isolation during their infectious periods.
Three of the four cases were linked to Ironside State School and one to Brisbane Boys Grammar.
No new cases were recorded on the Gold Coast where there has been one recent infection.
But Queensland authorities are investigating if there's a link between any Queensland cases and an infected man who has sent northern NSW into lockdown.
The Byron Shire, Richmond Valley, Lismore and Ballina Shire local government areas went into a snap lockdown at 6pm on Monday after a positive case from Sydney travelled to Byron Bay.
Specimens from the man have been sent north to determine if his infection is linked to any known cases in Queensland. A memo St Vincent's Hospital staff in Lismore, quoted by media outlets, suggested he may have recently been on the Gold Coast.
Regardless of the origin of that infection, NSW has said the man was not in Queensland at any point during his infectious period.
The Queensland premier has said she won't hesitate to ensure every cross-border traveller coming into the state is stopped and checked if the situation in NSW worsens.
"The further north the virus travels is alarming for us," Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Monday.
Queensland will ramp up its vaccine rollout from Wednesday when a mass vaccination hub opens at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
It will administer some of the 112,320 doses of Pfizer fast-tracked by the Commonwealth for delivery this month, instead of next.
People aged 16-59 have been urged to register for a vaccine and wait for an appointment slot.
Meanwhile, coronavirus has killed off the Birdsville Races for the second year in a row. The famed outback meet was scheduled for September 3 and 4, but will now be held on April 10 and 11 next year.
That means there'll be two Birdsville Races in 2022, the second as usual in September.
"More than 85 per cent of our ticket holders reside in locations that are interstate and unable to currently enter Queensland, or in lockdown or discouraged from travelling to regional Queensland," Birdsville Race Club vice president Gary Brook said.
"To run the 2021 TAB Birdsville Cup in 2022 is unprecedented but if its good enough for the Olympics, it's good enough for us."
Queensland recorded one additional case on Monday, in hotel quarantine.
