Live breaking news: Queensland facing 'very different' Covid-19 outbreak

An expert has warned the Queensland outbreak has the makings of a "very significant event", similar to the situation being faced in Sydney.  

An Australian infectious disease expert has warned the Queensland outbreak has the makings of a "very significant event", similar to the situation being faced in Greater Sydney.

Queensland recorded nine new Covid-19 infections on Sunday, making it the highest daily increase in local cases the state has seen in almost a year.

Director of Infectious Diseases at Mater Health, Dr Paul Griffin, told Weekend Today that Queensland had been "lucky" to avoid widespread outbreaks of the Delta variant so far, but warned this situation could easily get out of control.

"This one is very different. This one really does have the makings of something significant," he said. "Certainly if (lockdown) doesn't all go according to plan, we certainly could have sustained community transmission arising from this event."

Queensland was sent into a snap three-day lockdown on Saturday afternoon in a bid to allow contact tracers to track down the rapidly growing cases, with concerns growing that restrictions may need to be extended beyond 4pm Tuesday.

This blog is now closed. You can find Monday's NSW blog here and the Queensland blog here.