More than 350,000 students returning to Queensland classrooms today will be unvaccinated, as the state records 4701 new infections and 19 deaths.
The state’s daily infections have plummeted to their lowest since early January, while hospitalisations and ICU admissions also continue to ease.
Chief health officer Dr John Gerrard said of 19 of the deaths announced on Monday, one person had received a booster vaccine, and 10 were in aged care.
There are 663 people with the virus being treated in hospital and 43 in intensive care.
Queensland is behind other states in vaccinating children between the ages of 12 and 15
and lags behind in five to 11-year-olds.
One in four children aged 12 to 15 are unvaccinated, while just 39 per cent of kids in the younger cohort have had their jab.
Children on Monday returned to in-person teaching following a two-week delay in reopening schools in Queensland.
Dr Gerrard said outbreaks in classrooms was inevitable but assured parents shutdowns would only be an option if the situation became dire.
“This is not 2021 … there are no major plans to shut down schools, we want to be able to control this virus as a classroom level,” Dr Gerrard said.
“The greatest risk would be for children to spread it to their unvaccinated or unboosted grandparents”.
There are 200 Queensland aged care facilities grappling with active Covid outbreaks.
Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles said evacuating nursing homes would be a last resort.
“If you think about moving people who have mobility issues, many of whom have dementia and other issues, moving them from their home caxjmtzywn be very dangerous for them.” he said.
“Of course, in an emergency situation, the state and our ambos and our health services know what to do and can do it, but it should not come to that,”
