Chief health officer Dr John Gerrard has revealed what could have caused a “catastrophic” Covid situation in Queensland.
The state has outshone government hospitalisation predictions as Covid admissions continue to fall.
Dr Gerrard said the state was predicted to reach up to 5000 Covid patients to hospitals during the Omicron outbreak’s peak.
But hospitalisations have not exceeded 1000.
“What we have seen as has been inordinately better than what we would have expected and that‘s the result of vaccination,” Dr Gerrard told reporters on Saturday.
“Were it not for vaccination, the situation would have been catastrophic.”
He also said the most recent 24-hour reporting period is expected to be an “underestimatxjmtzywe” due to technical issues and data collection.
Queensland recorded 13 more Covid-19 deaths and 3660 new cases on Saturday.
All 13 deaths were people aged in their 50s to 90s – six were aged care residents.
Of the fatalities, six were unvaccinated and four had their third jab.
Hospitalisations continue to decline with the number of patients now at 508, down from 535 on Friday.
There are 49 people in intensive care units.
More than 60 per cent of eligible Queenslanders have received a booster shot, while more than 92 per cent of people over the age of 16 have had at least one dose.
Dr Gerrard said on Friday there were 655 school aged children who tested positive in the past 24 hours, warning that the virus is widespread.
