Qld border reopening: State can expect up to 1200 Covid-19 cases a day

Queensland could see up to 1200 Covid-19 cases a day when borders reopen, but the state’s top doc says the health system can handle it.

Queensland could expect to see up to 1200 cases of Covid-19 per day as borders reopen, but hospitals will cope with the increase in demand, according to the state’s top doctor.

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said detailed modelling undertaken by QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute had reassured her that the state’s hospitals and intensive care units would not be overwhelmed with a tsunami of Covid-19 infections once borders opened.

“So worst case scenario, we would start to see towards the peak, which wouldn’t be till later next year, we might see up to 1200 a day,” she said.

“But I very much doubt that because that is absolutely the worst case scenario, without putting any mitigating factors in place.’

But AMA Queensland council of general practice chair Dr Maria Boulton said the organisation feared not enough had been done to ready the state for the influx of cases.

“We are still concerned that the hospitals are still stretched... we do welcome the news today about reopening however we just need to do a little more work on making sure hospitals are ready and GP clinics are well supported,” she said.

“We know that some Queensland hospitals are working at 105 per cent capacity, we just wouldn’t want hospitals to be overloaded to the point that they have to cancel elective surgery for example.”

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young today. Picture: John Gass/NCA NewsWire

Dr Boulton said vaccination was the key to making sure hospital weren’t overwhelmed.

“AMAQ does have a ramping roundtable and are working with doctors who work in hospitals and it would be nice for QH to work with us and find solutions,” she said.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath also assured Queenslanders that the state’s already struggling health system was ready for the extra demand – despite the Government’s earlier stance that it wouldn’t be safe to open borders over fears hospitals wouldn’t cope with the surge in demand.

“The more we vaccinate, the less pressure we put on our hospital system,” Ms D’Ath said.

“Now we have modelled and we have planned for this to occur and manage our health system going forward.

“Our health system will manage extra people coming into our hospitals and our ICU.”

Dr Young said hospitals had been planning for a surge since “day one”.

“They thought they were going to be facing this last March, April of last year, so they have all of those plans and they can ramp up … and I have no concerns about that,” she said.

Asked what ramp up meant, Dr Young said some work could be delayed.

“So they’ll make decisions about what work gets delayed, they will recruit more staff and hopefully they’ll have all of the staff from our vaccine clinics, because we’ll be able to move that work into our pharmacies than our GPS who normally do that work,” she said.

“So they’ve already trained up a lot of additional staff to man vaccine clinics, and testing clinics.

“So they’ll have, they’ll be able to access those people.”