Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will propose a national network of outback quarantine camps to protect Australians from the UK strain of coronavirus.
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The plan comes after Brisbane's Grand Chancellor Hotel was shut down when six people linked to the quarantine facility tested positive for the highly contagious COVID-19 strain.
A cleaner and her partner, who are among the six, were contagious while in the community and triggered a three-day lockdown in Brisbane last weekend.
Ms Palaszczuk says it's clearly too risky to quarantine travellers in capital cities anymore.
Queensland is instead looking to order people to quarantine in vacant regional mining camps.
"We are looking at alternative plans to hotel quarantine that is based right in the midst of CBD where you have a whole lot of staff that come in from all around, you have airports, people flying in and out of airports," she told reporters on Thursday.
"This is a rational option and if we are dealing with a strain, which is up to 70 per cent more infectious, I think we need to be really serious about it."
Ms Palaszczuk will take her proposal to National Cabinet on January 22.
"It's a matter for state and territories but I think with this new strain we have to put all options on the table and these are sensible, rational options," the premier said.
The official investigation into the Grand Chancellor cluster is yet to identify wrongdoing by staff or guests.
Ms Palaszczuk indicated engineering investigations into air conditioning and water systems would be critical.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said the infected cleaner only worked on January 2, so she hadn't been in the room of the man who initially brought the virus strain in from the UK in December.
"There is nothing that I have found that says that the cleaner did anything wrong," she said.
"This is a virus a very, very contagious virus and I absolutely want to thank the cleaner for all the help she's provided and she's continuing to provide that is critical remembering.
"She's infected with it so she is unwell, so she is providing us with all of that assistance."
Dr Young reported four people had tested positive for the virus in hotel quarantine in the 24 hours to 9am on Thursday.
None are linked to the Grand Chancellor with two men from the US and a couple from South Africa.
She's now confident contact-tracers have found every person the cleaner and her partner had contact with when they were out in Brisbane last week while contagious.
However authorities are still trying to get in touch with and test the 250 people who completed quarantine at the Grand Chancellor after December 30.
Australian Associated Press
