Covid-19 update: 11 Covid-19 deaths, 19,932 case as international borders reopen

An unvaccinated person in their 30s is among 11 more Covid-19 deaths recorded in Queensland, with 19,932 new cases overnight. Vaccinated international travellers entering the state after 1am on Saturday will not need to go into quarantine, triggering celebration across the travel industry.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has said 11 more Queensland residents have died with Covid-19 with 19,932 new Covid-19 cases recorded in the latest reporting period while international borders are set to reopen on Saturday.

The new cases include 5940 positive rapid antigen tests.

Ms Palaszczuk said she was reminded that every single death throughout this pandemic is a tragedy.

“Any death is a tragedy, every day I am reminded that each of these deaths during the pandemic is a grandparent, a parent, an aunt or an uncle,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

The Premier revealed that from 1am Saturday, vaccinated travellers from overseas would not have to go into quarantine, triggering celebration across the travel industry, which has been decimated by the pandemic over the past two years.

It means tourism operators can finally start to plan for the return of overseas visitors – a $7 billion industry before the start of the pandemic.

She said the decision was about creating certainty for people to make travel plans in coming months.

Unvaccinated travellers will still need to undertake two weeks of quarantine when the state reaches the 90 per cent double dose mark.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in Brisbane. File picture: NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

Arrivals will need to get a Covid test within 24 hours of arrivals.

She said travellers would be arriving in Cairns, Brisbane and the Gold Coast but did not expect it would cause an increase in cases because they were ‘more likely to pick up the virus in Queensland’ at the moment.

Chief health officer Dr John Gerrard said one of the deaths announced this morning was of someone in their 30s who was not vaccinated.

He said the others were one person in their 50s, two in their 60s, one in their 70s, three in their 80s and three in their 90s.

Queensland's vaccination rate now sits at 91.65 per cent first dose and 88.82 per cent fully vaccinated. One million booster shots have been delivered.

The state is expected to hit 90 per cent double dose vaccination this week.

“We are very close to hitting 90 per cent,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“But the exact time is difficult to predict.”

But Ms Palaszczuk singled out the Gold Coast, saying their vaccination rate was still only at about 90.5 per cent first dose.

Dr Gerrard said there were now 835 Covid patients in Queensland hospitals.

Flight Centre Managing Director Graham Turner. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Tourism leaders have expressed their relief at the return of unrestricted international travel for Queensland.

Initial visitor numbers are expected to be more of a trickle than a flood, but Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO Daniel Gschwind said it all helped.

“We’ve been waiting for this, so to have a date allows operators and travelers to finally start to plan with some degree of confidence,” he said.

“It’s very good news.”

Flight Centre boss Graham Turner said it was another step towards life after the pandemic.

“Everything seems to be heading in the right direction,” he said.

“It’s certainly good news that we are open again.”

Queensland Airports Limited CEO Chris Mills said the decision was welcome news for the travel sector.

“We have been looking forward to this day for some time,” he said.

“This gives airports and airlines the certainty we need to work together with government to re-establish routes.”

However, he said that while the domestic route map was re-established quickly last month, international networks would take longer to restore.

“It won’t happen overnight, but we will see flights between Gold Coast Airport and various international destinations re-established in coming months,” he said.

“We are also talking to airlines about potential new destinations.”

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath confirmed that pressure on health staff and resources was more excessive than previous modelling predicted.

There are now more than 6000 hospital and ambulance staff either infected with Covid-19 or in isolation.

“There is a greater number of health staff impacted than our previous modelling suggested, and that’s because on omicron with those numbers climbing in a shorter time than predicted,” Ms D’Ath said.

She said the support from the private sector in terms of beds and staff would help ease the pressure on the system.

She reminded people that labour and resource shortages were impacting industries across the globe, and noted that flights across the U.S were being cancelled every day.

It comes after Queensland on Tuesday recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic, with news that 16 more people had died.

Close to 16,000 new cases were also reported.

Dr Gerrard said only one of the people who had died had received a booster.

“The virus does seem to be finding older people who have not received that third dose,” he said.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath and chief health officer Dr John Gerrard. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass

New South Wales has reported 32,297 Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, with 32 new deaths. In Victoria, 20,769 new cases have been recorded after authorities declared a ‘code brown’ for the state’s hospitals on Tuesday.