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Authorities are scrambling to prevent fresh coronavirus outbreaks in two states as they trace the path of a COVID-positive woman and her husband from locked down greater Melbourne to Queensland's Sunshine Coast via New South Wales.

The 44-year-old woman returned a positive test on Wednesday, the same day Melburnians were given the all-clear to exit a two-week lockdown, sparking more than 20 health alerts across regional NSW and south-east Queensland.

The woman's husband, who was checked into the Sunshine Coast University Hospital as a precaution, initially tested negative but authorities are sweating on the test results of five other close contacts in order to judge the spread of the virus.

READ MORE: Queensland exposure sites revealed after COVID-19 case

Authorities in parts of regional NSW and on the Sunshine Coast issued extra pleas for testing and vaccinations as the list of exposure sites grew to include cafes, hotels, service stations and shopping centres the pair stopped at along their five-day, 1700-kilometre journey.

Moree mayor Katrina Humphries said the potential exposures in her town had "shocked and saddened us all".

"Moree, we will get through this, (there will be) a few anxious days and be inconvenienced, however if we do get any positive results back we need to be mindful and caring of our community," she said, in a message to residents.

"This is no fault of any of our residents, and if anyone becomes ill we need to look out for them and give them moral support."

READ MORE: Interactive: Track the COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Authorities across Queensland and NSW are collaborating to try to prevent a wider outbreak, with Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young admitting they were working off "very, very preliminary information".

Dr Young said the woman began to develop symptoms on June 3 and so was "probably" infectious as early as June 1, but that information still needed to be clarified.

The couple arrived in Queensland on June 5 and had been staying with family in Caloundra, she said, adding that she was waiting on those test results and was concerned the woman's husband could still become infected.

Queensland authorities expect to add more exposure sites to its list of 13 — seven of which require immediate self-isolation and testing — but are still hopeful of avoiding community spread.

"Let's see what these results show," Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said on Wednesday.

"Hopefully we have got this early and hopefully there are no other positive cases and there's no actual local community transmission."

As of Wednesday night, there were 11 exposure sites across NSW, spread across Moree, Dubbo, Forbes and Gillenbah.

'We can't check every person moving'

Victoria, NSW and Queensland police were also working together to find out what happened but Queensland Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski was at pains to stress the investigation was in its early days.

"We cannot possibly check every single person that's moving about the country, we rely on the community doing the right thing," he said.

"And as we have seen all through this, the vast majority of the people do the right thing. 

"On this occasion, we've seen someone come into our state, when they're positive with COVID and now be in the community. 

"We need to establish what's happened there."

Dr Young asked for Sunshine Coast residents to come forward to be vaccinated, stating GPs would have "additional doses of vaccine" available.

Anyone under 50 is still advised to travel to a Queensland health vaccine site.

From 1am on Friday, Queensland will only consider greater Melbourne, not the rest of Victoria, a COVID-19 hotspot.

NSW lists exposure sites visited by couple

NSW Health has listed a number of exposure sites visited by the positive COVID-19 case.

Suburb	Venue	Address	Date and time
Gillenbah	Caltex Narrandera	1 Newell Highway	Tuesday, 1 June 10.30 am to 11.00am
Forbes	Vandenberg Hotel	7 Court Street	Tuesday, 1 June 6.00pm to 10.00pm
Forbes	Brew Coffee Bar	1/99 Lachlan Street	Wednesday, 2 June 7.00am to 10.00am
Dubbo	CSC – Church Street Cafe	15 Church Street	Wednesday, 2 June 11.30am to 2.30pm
Dubbo	Reading Cinemas Dubbo	49 Macquarie Street	Wednesday, 2 June 6.00pm to 10.00pm
Dubbo	Homestead Motel	101 Cobra Street	From Wednesday, 2 June at 12.00pm to Thursday, 3 June at 10.00am
Moree	Gwydir Carpark/Motel & Thermal Pools	4 Amaroo Drive	From Thursday, 3 June at 1.45pm All day Friday, 4 June to Saturday, 5 June at 7.30am
Moree	Cafe Omega	145 Balo Street	Thursday, 3 June 1.30pm to 4.30pm
Moree	Cafe Omega	145 Balo Street	Friday, 4 June 7.00am to 9.30am
Moree	Cafe Omega	145 Balo Street	Friday, 4 June 11.50am to 2.00pm
Moree	Amaroo Tavern	Amaroo Drive	Friday, 4 June 4.30pm to 11.00pm

Police are investigating a fatal shooting in Newcastle.

Emergency services were called to an incident on Queen Street in Stockton about 8pm on Wednesday.

A spokesman said officers from Newcastle police district were investigating after securing a crime scene.

It's understood a person was found shot dead at the scene.

The mayor of Moree has moved to reassure residents ahead of a few "anxious days" sparked by a Victorian woman with COVID-19 passing through the community on her way to Queensland.

Katrina Humphries said she was "shocked and saddened" the town might have been exposed to the virus after a lockdown border breach but residents would continue getting tested and looking out for each other.

"Moree will get through this, we will have a few anxious days and be inconvenienced, however if we do get any positive results back we need to be mindful and caring of our community," Cr Humphries said in a statement.

READ MORE: Victorian couple breach lockdown to enter Queensland

"This is no fault of any of our residents, and if anyone becomes ill we need to look out for them and give them moral support."

Cr Humphries said a drive-through testing clinic would open on Thursday at 9am to help with the large numbers anticipated and her office was looking at getting more vaccines from the federal government.

Her comments came after health authorities in New South Wales added a further two locations to the list of exposure sites linked to a positive COVID case who travelled from Melbourne, through NSW, to Queensland.

A Shell petrol station in Dubbo and Woolworths store in Moree were added to the growing list of locations.

The positive case travelled through regional NSW while potentially infectious from June 1 to June 5.

The woman drove with her partner from Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, stopping at places in Gillenbah, Forbes, Dubbo and Moree with 13 venues now on alert as possible exposure sites.

Anyone who attended the following venues at the times listed must immediately get tested and isolate until they receive further information from NSW Health.

The alert applies to the following venues:

• Dubbo: Shell Petrol Station, Corner of Victoria and Whylandra Street, 2 June between 10.30am and 11.30am
• Moree: Woolworths store, 215 Balo Street, 3 June 3.30pm to 4.30pm
• Gillenbah: Caltex Narrandera 1 Newell Highway on Tuesday, 1 June between 10.30 am to 11am
• Forbes: Vandenberg Hotel 7 Court Street on Tuesday, 1 June between 6pm to 10pm
• Forbes: Brew Coffee Bar 1/99 Lachlan Street on Wednesday, 2 June between 7am to 10am
• Dubbo: CSC – Church Street Cafe 15 Church Street on Wednesday, 2 June between 11.30am to 2.30pm
• Dubbo: Reading Cinemas Dubbo 49 Macquarie Street on Wednesday, 2 June between 6pm to 10pm
• Dubbo: Homestead Motel 101 Cobra Street From Wednesday, 2 June at 12.00pm to Thursday, 3 June at 10am
• Moree: Gwydir Carpark/Motel & Thermal Pools 4 Amaroo Drive from Thursday, 3 June at 1.45pm and all day Friday, 4 June to Saturday, 5 June at 7.30am
• Moree: Cafe Omega 145 Balo Street on Thursday, 3 June between 1.30pm to 4.30pm , Friday, 4 June between 7am to 9.30am and 11.50am to 2pm
• Moree: Amaroo Tavern Amaroo Drive on Friday, 4 June between 4.30pm to 11pm

READ MORE: Lockdown eases but Melbourne gyms stay closed

https://twitter.com/NSWHealth/status/1402554708179316740?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Queensland health authorities today confirmed the woman, from a suburb on the outskirt of greater Melbourne, arrived in Queensland on June 5.

The alerts come exactly one week since authorities issued warnings for a number of venues on the NSW south coast after a positive case associated with the Melbourne outbreak visited the area while potentially infectious.

So far, no cases of community transmission have been diagnosed in connection with the alerts with the state maintaining its month-long COVID-free streak.

Lockdown restrictions will be eased in metropolitan Melbourne from 11.59pm tomorrow night, however a raft of restrictions will remain in place.

High testing numbers and very low coronavirus positivity rates mean the five reasons to leave home will be overturned, Acting Premier James Merlino said.

"The existing 10 kilometre limit will be increased to 25km," he said.

"That means the only reasons to go further than 25km will be for work, education, caregiving or getting a vaccination."

LIVE UPDATES: The latest on the Victorian lockdown lift

https://twitter.com/VicGovDH/status/1402398048232349698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Schools will be able to return to in-person learning, but office workers have been asked to remain at home if possible.

Melburnians will not be able to have visitors to their homes, but outdoor gatherings are allowed for up to 10 people.

READ MORE: 'Digital certificate' for COVID-19 jab explained

"Masks will no longer be required outdoors unless you cannot maintain a 1.5 metre distance, but it is important that everyone continues to wear them indoors, whether that is shopping, on the train or at work," Mr Merlino said.

"Funerals are limited to 50 people, weddings are limited to 10. Religious ceremonies will be capped at 50 people inside."

Offices will be allowed to open for up to a quarter of staff, but no more than ten people.

Retail can reopen with density limits of one person per four square metres, and community sport can return to training.

READ MORE: What's coming back and what's staying closed

Hospitality venues can open with seated service at a maximum patron cap of 100, including 50 people indoors.

Hairdressers and beauty salons can also resume for treatments where masks can be worn.

Community sport can return for training and auctions can occur outdoors, with a maximum of 50 people.

Venues in Melbourne such as gyms, amusement parks, dance studios and nightclubs will remain closed, Mr Merlino said. 

A further $8.36 million in funding has been announced to provide an additional $2000 grant to support thousands of businesses that will remain shut. 

https://twitter.com/msanto92/status/1402438684591280128

Mr Merlino described the easing of lockdown restrictions as a "good day". 

"This is a good day. Everyone should be absolutely proud of what we've all achieved together, but we know that this isn't over yet and until we have widespread vaccination across Victoria and across our country, the virus will still be with us," he said.

"So we cannot let complacency creep in."

Restriction changes for regional Victoria

Restrictions will further ease for regional Victoria from 11.59pm tomorrow. 

Household gatherings can occur with up to two adults per day, plus dependents. 

Public gatherings have been increased to 20 people. 

Restaurants and cafes can open to a maximum of 150 people for seated service, including up to 75 allowed indoors. 

Religious ceremonies will be capped at 150 people at the venue, with no more than 75 people allowed indoors. 

Funerals will be limited to 75 people, while weddings will be limited to 20. 

Offices will remain capped at 50 per cent of staff. 

Community sport can return for all age groups, both for training and for competition in regional Victoria. 

Visits to aged care homes will still not be allowed in both Melbourne and regional Victoria, despite restrictions easing.

Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton said it was not possible to end the city's lockdown sooner. 

"We have needed the last few days to see that new cases are emerging in people already in quarantine, no new mystery cases emerging, the primary close contacts decreasing by hundreds as it has done each day and the number of exposure sites down to 160-odd," he said.

"These things give my team the confidence this is the appropriate time to make those changes. It is not a case of flipping a coin and hoping for the best."

Mandatory QR codes

The Victorian Government will move to make QR code check-ins compulsory across all workplaces with "very limited exemptions". 

Previously, the codes have only been mandatory for customer-facing businesses.

"But through this outbreak, we have seen a number of cases occur in office settings so we want to take the next step on this," Mr Merlino said.

"We will be looking to consult with industry over the next few days around implementation and we'll finalise the details next week ahead of the requirements coming into effect."

When will restrictions ease further?

Mr Merlino said restrictions would likely further ease across Melbourne and regional Victoria next Thursday night. 

The restrictions preventing travel between regional and Melbourne will likely be scrapped then. 

"The regional/metro divisions will come down and we'll be able to travel more freely around the state again," he said. 

"For Melbourne, we'll be looking to further ease restrictions on venues, community sport will be able to come back for competition, so again, this allows local sporting clubs to start planning for what the weekend after next looks like. 

"We want to see what more can be done to further ease restrictions safely on businesses without jeopardising the gains we have made and we'll be looking again to make some further changes for regional Victoria. 

"We'll continue to assess the data each day and provide more detail, more certainty as soon as we can."

Only one new case recorded

Today's one new locally acquired case was a close contact already in quarantine directly linked to the Stratton Finance workplace. 

"Like many of the cases we are currently managing, this person was quarantining securely during their entire infectious period," Health Minister Martin Foley said. 

AMA Vice President Dr Stephen Parnis said the lifting of restrictions had to be "gradual", claiming travel limits were not "unreasonable".

"We know that people get around the entire city very quickly here in Melbourne,' he said.

"The outbreaks in the latest clusters were all over the metropolitan area. So we've got to do it gradually.

"I think the lifting of lockdown in this way is not unreasonable. Just so long as we can do it as quickly as the numbers allow us."

READ MORE: Victoria announces $30 million support package

The Delta strain mystery

Health authorities are still trying to determine how a returned traveller's Delta strain of COVID-19 seeped out of Melbourne's quarantine system.

"The individual involved had exemplary behaviour from an infection prevention and control point of view coming off the plane and through the airport," Professor Sutton said.

"There has been some testing of the staff that was directly interacting and nothing has turned up. We will continue to look at that. The transport from the airport again, looks perfectly OK. But something has happened."

He said there were issues with ventilation and PPE that must be addressed. 

Whether home quarantine could become another alternative, Professor Sutton said that was a part of a "national conversation".