Covid-19 hospitalisations spike during Queensland’s third Omicron wave

The state is now in the middle of the third wave of Omicron, with hospital admission figures spiking to the same number it was at during the peak of the second wave.

The number of people in hospital with Covid-19 has spiked by more than 300 in just over three weeks as the state grapples through the third wave of Omicron.

Queensland now has 593 people in hospital with Covid-19, including 14 in the ICU.

This is up from 282 at the start of June and has almost matched the peak of the state’s second wave in April which reached 597.

It comes as Queensland recorded 5268 new cases of Covid-19 and 19 deaths overnight.

There are now 29,776 active cases of Covid-19 across the state, which is the highest its been in four weeks.

Government data shows the beginning of a new spike in Covid-19 hospitalisations from mid-June.

This morning, Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the state was currently in the middle of the third wave of Omicron.

“What we do know is that Covid, the pandemic, has put an added pressure on our system

so that as of today, we are almost at the peak that we saw in the second wave,” Ms D’Ath said.

“We are in the middle of wave three right now. Over 500 beds today are being taken up across the hospital system with Covid.”

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said the state was in the third wave of Omicron. Picture: Richard Walker.

The ongoing influenza outbreak has also added to the overall pressures on the state’s health system with 418 people going to hospital with the flu in the week to June 26.

This is out of the 3634 new cases that were detected across the state this year with the peak hitting earlier this month.

As a part of the State Budget, the Queensland Government has announced three new hospitals and expansions to 11 hospitals to be built across the state which is expected to add 2509 new beds.

It comes as a part of the State Government’s additional funding of $9.78 billion to go towards new hospitals and beds which Ms D’Ath called “the largest in Queensland’s history”.