Queensland hat einen weiteren starken Anstieg der neuen Fälle von Covid-19 verzeichnet, wobei 3.118 Infektionen registriert wurden, aber nur eine Person auf der Intensivstation.
Der Chief Health Officer von Queensland, Dr. John Gerrard, kündigte am Freitag den Anstieg der Zahl an, nach 2.222 Fällen, die am Donnerstag gemeldet wurden.
Nur ein 50-jähriger Mann lag auf der Intensivstation und musste nicht beatmet werden.
“Interessanterweise hat er eher die Delta-Variante des Virus als die Omicron-Variante”, sagte Dr. Gerrard.
„Er ist geimpft. Er hat vor einigen Monaten zwei Dosen des Impfstoffs erhalten, was uns daran erinnert, dass es auch mit einer Impfung möglich ist, an Covid-19 ziemlich krank zu werden.
“Es kommt vor, wir wissen das schon immer.”
In Queensland gibt es jetzt 11.697 aktive Fälle.
Dr. Gerrard sagte, weitere 126 Menschen seien mit dem Virus im Krankenhaus gewesen.
“Alle nur daran erinnern, dass nur weil sie Covid haben, dies nicht der Grund für ihre Einlieferung ins Krankenhaus ist”, sagte er.
“Ein viel besserer Indikator für die Schwere der Erkrankung ist die Anzahl der Personen, die sich auf der Intensivstation befinden.”
“Es ist wahrscheinlich, dass die Mehrheit der Krankenhauspatienten den Impfstoff erhalten haben” [and most of those hospitalised are not particularly sick.
‘We’ve got small numbers of people with significant illness.’
Queensland Chief Heath Officer Dr John Gerrard said changes announced after the national cabinet meeting yesterday ‘should decrease the numbers waiting in queues for PCR tests in the coming weeks’
A woman seen at a testing centre on the Gold Coast, Queensland on New Year’s Eve
People queue for coffee at a Gold Coast cafe on New Year’s Eve. A mask mandate currently applies to indoor retail settings in Queensland, with health authorities urging people to wear them elsewhere as case numbers rise in the state
Dr Gerrard said changes announced after the national cabinet meeting yesterday ‘should decrease the numbers waiting in queues for PCR tests in the coming weeks’.
He said the changes to how close contacts are defined were ‘critical’.
‘I think we’re going to see a rise in cases irrespective of this change,’ Dr Gerrard said.
Yesterday Dr Gerrard warned Queenslanders they could expect ‘tens of thousands’ of cases in the state in the coming weeks.
He reminded people that if they have symptoms of Covid they should be coming forward for a PCR test, not a rapid antigen test.
He said modelling on the capacity of Queensland hospitals suggested it would cope with a large rise in infections, given current rates of hospitalisation in this outbreak.
Dr Gerrard was asked whether he fells confident about how the state would handle the pandemic in 2022.
‘We’re likely to see a substantial wave earlier than expected, most of us expected this to occur in May-June, so maybe that will bring the whole event a little bit further forward.
‘Whether we see further waves of infection, that’s what we don’t know. Will there be another wave if infection in the winter?
‘But I am feeling quietly optimistic looking forward.’
Local residents line up at a drive-in testing centre in Brisbane, Queensland on New Year’s Eve. Dr Gerrard said changes announced after the national cabinet meeting yesterday ‘should decrease the numbers waiting in queues for PCR tests in the coming weeks’
Queensland has posted another sharp rise in new cases of Covid-19 , with 3,118 infections recorded on New Year’s Eve
The dominant strain of the virus in Queensland is already Omicron, Dr Gerrard said on Thursday.
‘We are not going to stop the Omicron virus. There are some things we can do to slow the spread… masks are important,’ he said.
‘The number of people we expect to be infected with this virus is very large, very large, all of us will know someone who is infected.
‘But it’s important to remember that most people don’t get critically ill, it’s a small proportion.’
Fears are rising, however, for the spread of the virus in some remote Indigenous communities where overall vaccination rates remain low.
More than a dozen infections had been reported on Thursday Island in the past few days while Cherbourg, north-west of Brisbane, also reported 12 cases overnight.
Another two positive cases were also reported at nearby Murgon.
The double-dose vaccination rate is below 60 per cent in Cherbourg, while 72 per cent of the 16 years and over population on Thursday Island are fully vaccinated.
Yesterday Dr Gerrard said lockdowns were not being considered even in populations where vaccination rates were well below the state average.
‘It will depend on what the local community wants to do but we do not want to impose lockdowns on communities.’
This week the Palm Island (pictured) Aboriginal Shire Council posted a picture of a temporary morgue on its Facebook page as a grim warning that local residents are at risk of illness and death from the virus
Torres Strait Island Regional Council Mayor Phillemon Mosby said he had requested travel restrictions to Thursday Island and other Torres Strait islands be mandated by the chief health officer to prevent further incursion of the virus.
‘Things become very serious here very quickly,’ Mr Mosby told The Cairns Post.
‘We are hoping the chief health officer, will get back to us by Friday which is New Year’s Eve.’
This week the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council posted a picture of a temporary morgue on its Facebook page as a grim warning that local residents are at risk of illness and death from the virus.
The refrigerated storage container had been sent to the island, located 65km north-west of Townsville, by Queensland Health.