Queensland government has no plans to remove hated Covid rule as virus continues to spread

Queenslanders will face ongoing Covid rules with the state’s top doctor warning the virus could become more unpredictable in coming months.

Queenslanders will face ongoing mask and vaccine mandates with authorities taking a cautious approach to lifting restrictions.

Chief health officer Dr Gerard on Tuesday expressed concern over how the virus could spread during winter.

He said masks and vaccination requirements would remain mandatory in indoor settings.

“We‘re not having an active discussion to remove (masks) at this stage,” Dr Gerrard told reporters.

“Not until we‘re very clear where this epidemic is going because we don’t yet know yet.”

Health authorities believe high infections rates among people in their 20s could offer protection for the wider community.

Recovered Covid patients’ immunity, along with high vaccination rates are boosters have also sparked hope about the future.

“I‘m a glass half-full kind of person – but anything could happen,” Dr Gerard said.

Queensland has inched closer to the 90 per cent double vaccination rate, and is currently sitting at 89.97 per cent. Picture: NCA NewsWire /Gaye Gerard

Queensland has recorded 5178 new cases and 12 more Covid deaths, taking the state’s toll to 308 throughout the pandemic.

Dr Gerrard said people ranging from their 30s to their 90s died as he announced the latest figures.

“One person in their 30s – I have to say this was a somewhat unusual case and it‘s not clear to what extent Covid played a part in this person’s death” he said.

Dr Gerrard said deaths of young people dying of Covid are rare and unexpected.

Of the 12 deaths, one person had received a booster vaccine, three people were unvaccinated and 12 were aged care residents.

Nine per cent of people the 160 people who have died in aged care in Queensland have received boosters.

A total of 663 Covid patients remain in hospital, 42 of them in intensive care.

Twenty-two patients are on ventilators.

There were 3207 rapid antigen tests recorded in the past 24-hour as the reporting period.

The Queensland Government has scraped QR code check in for businesses not covered under the vaccine mandate following criticism from local councils. Picture: Brendan Radke

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the state had overcome its Covid infection peak after a case explosion over the past month.

“We are coming down off the peak now,” she said.

“All of the data that we have and the modelling that we have seen, it appears that we hit our peak on the fourth of February.”

Queenslanders will no longer have to check into venues following the state government’s announcement to scrap the contact tracing app for businesses that are not covered under vaccine mandates.

Fewer Queenslanders had been using the check-in app, with health professionals and local councils criticising it as redundant.

Businesses such as bars, clubs, and pubs will still use the app to check vaccine status.

Originally published as Queensland government has no plans to remove hated Covid rule as virus continues to spread