Queensland has recorded 16,031 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, with warnings the Gold Coast is still on track to hit its peak within days.
Of today’s new cases, 4809 are from rapid antigen tests, while the remaining are from PCR tests.
Sadly, there has also been a further 13 deaths across the state.
Two people were aged in their 60s, five were in their 70s, five were in their 80s and one was aged in their 90s.
Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard said two were unvaccinated, one had received one single dose of the vaccine, eight were double vaccinated and one had received a booster.
It takes the state’s virus death toll to 85.
There are now 855 people being treated for the virus in hospital, with 55 in Intensive Care and 22 on ventilators.
The Premier has also confirmed that from Monday, Queenslanders will be able to get their vaccine booster three months after their second dose instead of waiting four months.
“Shortening the period between second doses and boosters from four months to three will give more Queenslanders better protection sooner,” Annastacia Palaszczuk said.
“The Chief Health Officer advised me this morning that it is safe to do that, and it brings us in line with what other jurisdictions are doing as well”.
Meantime, the Premier has rejected calls by the Gold Coast Mayor to scrap QR code check-ins, with Tom Tate stating that they’ve become pointless due to a lack of contact tracing.
“I saw that there have been some calls today from the Mayor to drop the check-in app,” the Premier said.
“Can I just say, that is not happening.
“We are going through a wave at the moment, we are going to be peaking in the next few weeks, I need people to continue to check-in.
“That is to ensure that vaccinated people who are going into certain venues so they can feel safe during this particular period of time, it’s an added layer of confidence for individuals and for families.”
Currently, 91.76 per cent of Queenslanders have had one COVID-19 jab, while 89 per cent are fully vaccinated.
It comes as the state prepares to reopen to vaccinated international travellers from 1AM tomorrow.
