Qld Covid: New restrictions for Goondiwindi after Moree booted from border bubble

A growing Covid cluster at the border has Queenslanders on edge, with a worrying new exposure site listed overnight.

Brisbane Airport is back on the list of Covid exposure sites, while a Queensland border community is set to face harsher restrictions for a week due to a worrying virus cluster.

There were zero new local Covid cases in Queensland on Friday – with two new cases in hotel quarantine – though health authorities have issued an alert for anyone who was at Brisbane Domestic Airport on Sunday between 2.40pm and 6.04pm.

Those at the Qantas food court area on level 2 are now considered a close contact.

Meanwhile, the border town of Goondiwindi has had further restrictions put in place after three new cases were announced on Thursday.

Border crossings from the NSW town of Moree will be limited to “essential purposes” for the next seven days and visits to Goondiwindi’s health and aged care facilities will not be allowed this weekend.

Goondiwindi, which has a significant Indigenous population, is more than 81.5 per cent fully vaccinated, well above the 65.3 per cent Queensland average. Picture: Philip Norrish

Moree – just 90 minutes from Goondiwindi – was declared a restricted border zone area from 12.01am on Friday after it recorded 33 cases on Thursday. More are expected on Friday.

“My understanding is there going to be more cases reported today,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.

“And it’s a situation where (people in) those communities come across (the border) quite regularly and I just think we need to just clamp down just a little bit more for the next seven days, just to ensure the protection of the townships across the border.”

More than 240 people in Goondiwindi came forward for testing after three new cases were reported on Thursday.

Two of the three new cases had visited Moree, while the third Queensland case was linked to the first two.

Only one of the newly infected people had received a dose of the vaccine.

A NSW woman and a Victorian truck driver also tested positive interstate after being infectious in Goondiwindi.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk burst the border bubble with Moree to help snuff out a new Covid threat. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Acting chief health officer Peter Aitken said he was “cautiously optimistic” about Goondiwindi’s prospects, but the state government warned the new cases were a taste of the coming Covid tide when the borders reopen on December 17.

Ms Palaszczuk said working in Goondiwindi’s favour was the town’s high vaccination rate.

“What‘s going to happen is when the borders open, we’ll be seeing hundreds of cases and what we’re seeing in Goondiwindi is a prime example of a highly vaccinated community and the virus will hunt you down if you are unvaccinated,” she said.

Goondiwindi, which has a significant Indigenous population, is more than 81.5 per cent fully vaccinated, well above the 65.3 per cent statewide average.

The wider rate in regional Queensland remains a concern. Ms Palaszczuk has singled out Ipswich, Logan, Beaudesert and the Gold Coast in the state’s southeast corner.

There will be 25 Bunnings stores across the state operating as vaccination clinics this weekend.