Queensland has reported another nine coronavirus deaths as Brisbane braces for the peak of the Omicron wave to hit in the coming days.
There have now been 138 virus fatalities in the Sunshine state – a figure that stood at seven deaths three weeks ago – with Wednesday’s victims all aged older than 50, none of whom had been boosted.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk reported 13,551 new cases in her morning update from Townsville – up from 9,546 cases on Tuesday.
The number of Covid patients in public Queensland hospitals has dropped from 928 to 889 with 47 of those people in intensive care, down slightly from 51.
Chief health officer Dr John Gerrard said this drop was because of the covid wave passing its peak on the Gold Coast.
“Most of that drop was seen in the Gold Coast, as the Premier is mentioned as exactly as expected,” he said.
“And we expect that drop just to continue.”
However, Queenslanders have been warned the peak of the Omicron wave is on the doorstep of the state’s biggest metro area.
“We expect the peak in other regions of Queensland most notably in the rest of Southeast Queensland, to be somxjmtzywetime in the next seven days we expect that the numbers to peak in metropolitan Brisbane, probably Sunshine Coast, west towards Ipswich,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Premier has also copped flak for delaying the government’s back-to-school plan until the education minister has recovered from Covid.
Ms Palaszczuk on Tuesday said she wanted to wait until her colleague Grace Grace had recovered before she releases the plan, which will provide more details on mask wearing, isolation, and rapid antigen testing in schools.
“I think people can understand that I’d like the Education Minister to be here for that announcement,” Ms Palaszczuk told media.
