Queensland has recorded more than 20,566 new COVID-19 cases today, including a number of results that were not able to be reported on Monday due to a software glitch.
Sadly, another person with the virus has also passed away, taking the total number of deaths in Queensland since the start of the pandemic to 11.
The man, aged in his 70s, is also understood to have had other significant medical complications.
Today’s case total comes after more than 50,038 came forward for testing.
The number of people being treated for COVID-19 in hospital has jumped from 419 to 502 in just one day.
“That is escalating fairly rapidly and that is exactly what it is expected to do, and that will continue based on our projections until the beginning of February,” Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard said.
There are now 27 people in ICU, including six who are on ventilators.
The State’s top doctor said the Gold Coast continues to bear the brunt of the virus, which is continuing to spread rapidly across the city.
“The Gold Coast remains a major hotspot, there is no question about that, they had an additional 23 admissions to their ward yesterday,” Dr Gerrard said.
“To give you some context of that, a typical hospital ward is somewhere between 24 and 30 patients… That is effectively almost an entire ward in one day.”
Dr Gerrard also joined a chorus of state and city leaders slamming people taking part in “covid parties”, particularly on the Gold Coast.
“I have read about these reports of COVID parties… They are utterly ridiculous,” he said.
“There is one way, the best way to get immunity to this virus, is through vaccination, not through COVID parties.
“They are ridiculous, so please stop them. Please stop.”
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Despite the current Omicron outbreak, Dr Gerrard is reassuring Queenslanders that it is “just another virus” and that people who are vaccinated should continue to “go about their lives”.
“I think we should continue our lives as normal. That is our plan. That is our way forward,” he said.
“What is happening here is inevitable. We have made this minor change to the start of the school year, but I think as far as possible, most of us should be continuing our lives as normal.
“There are notable suggestions, people who are not vaccinated should not be out in the community.
“People who are immunocompromised, those who are elderly, should probably be avoiding large crowds at the moment, particularly if they have not received that booster dose of the virus.
“But I think most of us should be continuing our lives as normal. I don’t think we should allow our lives to be disrupted too much at this stage by this virus.
“It is just a virus and in this case we have an effective vaccine”.
There are now 109,524 active cases across the state.
