Elective surgeries will restart in Queensland next week despite the state recording a slight spike in COVID-19 case numbers.
There were 6,300 infections detected in the last 24 hour reporting period, up from 5,531 yesterday and 4,096 on Monday.
3,524 of today’s cases were detected through rapid antigen tests.
Queensland also recorded a further 37 COVID-related deaths, although the Premier said many occurred earlier in the month.
“29 of these are due to being reported by the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages,” Annastacia Palaszczuk told Parliament on Wednesday.
“Births, Deaths and Marriages report to Queensland Health on a weekly basis and this reporting is reflected in today’s data.
“Many of these people had underlying conditions and 22 were in aged care.”
The age and vaccination status of those who passed has not been released.
Queensland’s first dose vaccine rate 92.59 per cent and 90.66 per cent double dose
63 per cent of the eligible population have received a booster.
For children aged 5-11, 42.2 per cent have received a first dose.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath also confirmed a staged restart of elective surgery will begin on Monday, February 28.
“While elective surgery has already started in some of our hospital and health services, this restart will mean that all Queensland Health services will be once again performing elective surgery, initially focusing on the most urgent matters,” Ms D’Ath told Parliament.
“The fact that we can restart elective surgery is a testament to the hard work of our health staff and all Queenslanders in battling against this Omicron wave and signals our transition to the next phase of the pandemic.”
