Covid Qld: More than half of all Qld Covid deaths have occurred in aged care facilities as 6k cases, 13 deaths recorded

The Deputy Premier has slammed the Federal Government’s handling of the aged care sector, with over half of Queensland’s Covid-19 deaths occurring in nursing homes.

Another 13 people in Queensland have died with Covid-19 as the state recorded 6857 new infections on Friday with Deputy Premier Steven Miles saying the number of aged care deaths is ‘nothing short of a national disgrace’.

Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said nine of the deaths reported on Friday were in aged care.

The number of aged care residents who have died in aged care has soared to 127, while the total number of Queenslanders who have died has climbed to 240 since the end of December.

Mr Miles said the number of deaths in aged care “shouldn’t have come to this”, adding the Commonwealth government should have ensured the elderly population had their booster shots.

He said it “breaks his heart” to see reports of aged care residents being locked in facilities and ‘what is happening in aged care right now is nothing short of a national disgrace’.

“It shouldn’t have come to this,” he said.

“They should have all been boosted and the Commonwealth Government should have ensured that there was sufficient PPE and rapid antigen tests.

“If they were boosted, we wouldn’t be experiencing the level of deaths in aged care that we are.

“I welcome their (the federal government) decision finally today to make the Defence Force available to bolster the aged care workforce, and now aged care sector.

“It’s late, but it’s welcome.”

Mr Miles levelled blame at the Federal Government for the rising death rate in aged care facilities and reports of residents being abandoned due to staff shortages, which he described as “nothing short of a national disgrace”.

“I welcome (Defence Minister) Peter Dutton this morning contradicting the Prime Minister (Scott Morrison) and saying that the army will be available in aged care,” Mr Miles said.

“We have elderly residents locked away and isolated in their rooms, not being bathed, not getting food, not getting the medical care they need and the national government should be doing absolutely everything they can to change that, including getting them boosted.

“If they were boosted, we wouldn’t be experiencing the level of deaths that we are.”

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath also criticised the federal government’s efforts in aged care and told it to “get on with it”.

“The federal government needs to implement the recommendations of the Aged Care Royal Commission to keep residents safe,” she said.

Of the 13 deaths, two people were unvaccinated and only three had received the booster.

One person was in their 60s, three were in their 70s, five in their 80s, and four in their 90s.

Mr Miles confirmed the state had ordered 32.5 million Rapid Antigen Tests, with 1.2 million of those expected to arrive in the next few days.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles.

The state’s death toll over the course of the pandemic has reached 234, with all but seven of these fatalities coming in the first 33 days of 2022.

Deaths in aged care in Queensland account for more than half of the overall tally at 118.

More than 4074 tests were recorded in the last 24 hours.

The number of patients presenting to public hospitals in the state’s southeast is showing signs of stabilising, as the state reported 732 hospitalisations, down from Thursday’s total of 820.

Fifty people are in intensive care.

Dr Gerrard urged those older than 40 to get their booster vaccine.

“Please go ahead and get that booster particularly if you are older,” he said.

He admitted there is a “percentage of Queenslanders who are never going to get vaccinated” when quizzed about the slow rise to 90 per cent coverage.

“That target is somewhat arbitrary,” he said, stressing the high vaccination rate in the state was sufficient to reduce hospitalisation and death.

He said nearing 90 per cent was an extraordinary accomplishment and admitted he was ‘sceptical we would even reach 70 per cent’ when the vaccination program started.

Dr Gerrard said the priority of older Queenslanders getting their booster was the most pressing issue.

“It makes a huge difference to your risk of dying or being admitted to intensive care or being admitted to hospital,” Dr Gerrard said.

He said he did not want to put restrictions on aged care visitation, instead preferring to get them boosted.

“It’s not clear to us why a disproportionate number of people in aged care have not had the booster ... we don’t know what the hold up is, and that is concerning me,” he said.

When asked if younger people who had previously contracted Covid should get boosted, he said ‘if I was younger, I would be getting the booster because I’d want to be as immune as possible’.

He said it was difficult to determine the real number of infections across the state, citing studies from the Gold Coast that indicated there were five to ten cases for every one infection recorded.

Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard. Pics Adam Head

“That’s why hospital admissions are a more useful marker even if they do lag,” the top doctor said.

His comments come after random sampling data of Gold Coast residents indicated a substantial amount of Queenslanders were contracting Covid without knowing it, a new Gold Coast study has shown, as authorities reveal they still have to “plan for the worst”.

Future waves of the virus are expected this year, with chief health officer John Gerrard warning this was expected particularly during winter.