Queensland records 6781 new Covid cases, 265 people in hospital

Queensland has recorded 6781 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours, while free rapid antigen tests will be made available from tomorrow as the Premier admits they didn’t expect cases to ‘escalate so quickly’.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced Queensland has recorded 6781 new Covid cases, while free rapid antigen tests will be made available from tomorrow.

There are now 265 people in hospital and 32,000 active cases across the state, but authorities warned that number would be “significantly higher”.

Ms Palaszczuk said 18 million rapid antigen tests would be distributed through the state’s testing clinics to those in need.

“We need to make it very, very simple to our most vulnerable people at this time,” she said.

“This is a pandemic, we need to make it as easy and simple as can be.”

Ms Palaszczuk thanked people for their “patience and persistence” as testing chaos gripped the state and said private pathologists had promised to open six more sites from Wednesday to Friday.

Ms Palaszczuk said the new clinics would be at Ashgrove, Boondall, Edens Landing, Cleveland and Wilston.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said rapid antigen tests were being distributed across the state. Picture: Josh Woning

Chief health officer Dr John Gerrard said the “real number (of cases) was significantly higher” than the recorded number.

That was because some people could not get a test, and others had taken rapid antigen tests, of which authorities had no records.

“Importantly, despite this significant number of cases, there are still just 10 patients in intensive care,” Dr Gerrard said, saying two were on ventilators.

Dr Gerrard said the number of seriously ill Covid cases remained low but hospitalisation had lifted for infected patients needing care to 265.

Chief health officer Dr John Gerrard. Picture: John Gass

He said authorities were “well aware” how difficult it was to get a PCR test, and only those who should seek one were those with symptoms.

Close contacts in quarantine needed to have a PCR or RAT on day six of their quarantine so they may leave, he said.

He said people who were sick should stay home if they were otherwise healthy, young and did not have serious illness.

Dr Gerrard said people should not be phoning triple-zero or turning up at emergency departments if they got a positive test but did not need urgent medical care.

Those whose conditions didn’t improve after three days should also seek medical advice.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said she had spoken with interstate and federal counterparts about the use of private pathology clinics being unable to conduct public screenings because of contracts at aged care centres.

Testing clinic opening hours

Ashgrove: 7am to midday

Boondall: 8am to midday
Eden's Landing: 8am to 11am
Cleveland: 7am to midday
Indooroopilly: 7am to midday
Wilston: 8am to 11am (Wed and Thurs)
Bundall: 8am to 11am (Wed and Thurs)

*current at 11am January 5

She said private operator QML has had drive-through testing sites open today across the city. MedLab will also slightly increase capacity.

“I do appreciate the pressure on the private pathologists,” she said.

In relation to PCR result times blowing out to up to six days, Ms D’Ath explained private pathologists were not able to “block test” anymore – which is when a number of tests are tested together.

When all are negative, as many were in the past, it is a faster way to test.

But she said they were no longer able to test that way because so many were positive and tests were now having to be processed individually.

“(That) has reduced their capacity by around 50 per cent,” she said.

There were also workforce problems, she said.

The massive queue at the Covid testing clinic in Boronia. Picture: Adam Head

Ms D’Ath said people should be preparing now for the possibility of going into quarantine and making sure they have sufficient medical and food supplies and a thermometer.

Ms Palaszczuk said she was glad a national cabinet meeting had been called to discuss the problems around testing and the use of RATs.

“From a practical point of view, we need to allow our most vulnerable to get those RAT tests as soon as they become available and I absolutely believe they should be free to this cohort,” she said.

She said Queenslanders will find coming weeks a “very challenging period” after two years of very low cases.

“Can I say to Queenslanders, please, if you have any questions, have a look on the Queensland Health website,” she said.

“And as the chief health officer said, if you are finding it very difficult to breathe, that is the time to ring Triple-0.”

Ms Palaszczuk said people should socially distance themselves from others and plan as many of their catch-ups outside as they could.

“I want to keep as safe as we possibly can,” she said.

“But we will see a very quick escalation.”

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath. Picture: Zak Simmonds

She urged people to wear their masks to slow the spread, which would prevent more people having to go into quarantine.

“It’s a tough time for everyone,” she said.

“ … Unfortunately Omicron is a highly contagious variant and it’s something that Queenslanders are responding to in the best way possible.

“We always knew there’d be cases but I don’t think we expected them to escalate as quickly as it has.”

Ms Palaszczuk said pharmacists would get extra supplies of rapid antigen tests soon.

“The rapid antigen tests are coming and will be available for collection at our major public testing centres in the very near future,” she said.

Ms Palaszczuk - asked whether she regretted opening the borders when she did - said the variant would have come into Queensland regardless.

“It is eventually going to be throughout Australia,” she said.

“People wanted to see their family and friends and loved ones.

“Grandparents had not seen their children or grandchildren for years, sometimes since they had been born.”

She said people got vaccinated, and vaccinations were working.

“If you are unvaccinated, now is the time to not delay and go and get vaccinated,” she said.

Ms D’Ath said it was better to open now than later.

“If all the kids were at school, and we had the winter flu, we would have been in a worse position,” she said.

“So as sad as it is to do this over the Christmas holidays, we are in a better position to do this now than if we had waited, you know, two or three months.”

On the border reopening, Dr Gerrard said everywhere would have to go through the pain of reopening at some time.

Dr Gerrard said he still wanted people in quarantine to get day six tests, and RAT tests would start becoming available at testing centres.

“We still want people who are the household contacts of known Covid patients to have a day six test to clear them, either RAT or PCR test to clear them to go to work,” he said.