Queensland records 19 deaths, 4701 COVID-19 cases as check-in app scrapped - 9News

Queensland has recorded 4701 new cases of COVID-19 and a further 19 deaths, with 10 of those fatalities being aged care residents.

Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard said nine of the 19 deaths recorded today were in people not vaccinated against COVID-19.

There are 663 people in public hospitals with the virus, including 41 in intensive care.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said 10 of today's deaths were in aged care. (Nine)

Dr Gerrard said while that figure was not lower than yesterday, the number was trending downwards when looking at the outbreak more broadly.

"The trend is rapidly down across Queensland," he said.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the state was "really coming down off the peak" of the Omicron outbreak.

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said the last area of Queensland to hit the peak of this wave of the virus, the city of Townsville, had reached its peak on February 4.

She said delaying the school term had made "all the difference" as it allowed Queensland to "ride the peak and start seeing a decline in hospitalisations".

QR code check-ins will no longer be required from today at venues where being vaccinated against COVID-19 is not required for entry, including supermarkets, gyms and stores.

"This is a great step forward," Ms D'Ath said.

Queensland students return to school

Queensland school students are heading back to the classroom today after Term One was delayed by two weeks.

Masks will be mandatory for all high-school students and highly recommended for students in Year Three and above in primary school.

But unlike in New South Wales, at-home rapid antigen testing for students won't be compulsory.

Students are returning to the classroom in Queensland from today. (Getty)

Instead, students will be given one to take home if they start to show symptoms.

Ms Palasczuk has repeatedly said there had been no advice from Queensland health authorities or the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee that mass surveillance testing of students was necessary.

The start of the school year was delayed in Queensland to allow parents to get their kids vaccinated, as well as to avoid the peak of the Omicron wave.

While the latter goal has been achieved, with hospitalisations beginning to decline, there has been a low take-up on vaccines in the intervening period.

Just 39 per cent of five- to 11-year-olds have had their first jab, leaving Queensland with the second-lowest uptake proportion in the country for that age group.

How Australia faced the emergence of the Omicron variant

Aged care in crisis

It has been revealed 200 aged care centres in Queensland are battling COVID-19 outbreaks, as the sector pleads for help from the federal government.

Health authorities say a lot of the deaths occurring in aged care facilities are due to residents not yet receiving their booster shot.

The sector is now ramping up calls they made over the weekend to bring in Defence personnel to help with the booster rollout.

Queensland is not alone in the struggle, with 1200 outbreaks in aged care centres nationwide.

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2022-02-07 11:03:24Z
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