The passing of the Omicron peak means a suite of Covid mandates are currently under review in Queensland, including indoor mask wearing and restrictions on unvaccinated patrons.
A steady drop in case numbers and hospitalisations has already seen the Sunshine State abandon Covid check-ins for most venues – including supermarkets, gyms, salons and indoor sporting arenas – with chief health officer Dr John Gerrard now confirming a number of other restrictions were now being looked at.
“All of them are currently under review given that this Omicron wave is coming to an end,” he said on Tuesday.
“If some of these restrictions were to be withdrawn … such as masks then that would be purely on the understanding that if there was a resurgence of infection then masks will be reintroduced, say if that would happen in the winter.
“We’ll still see cases, the virus isn’t going to go away – we’re still going to see transmission of the virus heading into winter.”
Queensland’s daily case numbers have eased from a peak of 23,600 on January 14 to just 5286 new infections on Tuesday.
There are still more than 500,000 active cases in the state but hospitalisations, ICU admissions, and the number ventilated patients are trending downwards.
Another 10 people were reported to have died from the virus on Tuesday, bringing the state’s Covid death toll to 387.
All but seven of those deaths have come since the start of 2022, when the reopening of borders coincided with the arrival of the Omicron variant.
The number of double-dosed Queenslanders aged 16 and over has been hovering just below 90 per cent for a week, while 1.8 million people have had their booster shot.
