A testing facility will be set up in the town,with the positive cases to be transferred to dedicated COVID hospitals in south-east Queensland on Thursday. More exposure sites would be listed throughout the day.

Acting Chief Health Officer Peter Aitken said health authorities were concerned about the cluster in Moree,about 150 kilometres south of Goondiwindi,in which 16 people had tested positive in the past three days.

“At this stage,two of those[Queensland] cases have been to Moree — to events there — and the other case is linked to one of those cases,that’s where the linkage is,” Dr Aitken said.

Ms Palaszczuk said because of the high vaccination rate in the community,a lockdown was not needed.

She urged Queensland residents,particularly those in regions lagging behind the average,to come forward and help boost vaccine protection as the state readied to ease travel restrictions from hotspot states within weeks.

More than 65.2 per cent of the Queensland population is now fully vaccinated,with 78.5 per cent having received one dose. While some regions with lower rates have seen the sharpest increases amid the reopening vaccination blitz,many are still behind.

The Palaszczuk government’s sustained regional messaging blitz was derailed on Thursday morning when Health Minister Yvette D’Ath walked away from her Cairns press conference after it washijacked by a woman spouting anti-vaccination views.

A total of 5098 tests were conducted statewide on Wednesday,with Queensland Health delivering 10,709 vaccine doses.

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