19,709 new Qld Covid cases, person aged in their 20s among six deaths

Queensland has recorded 19,709 Covid cases overnight and six more deaths. A person aged in their 20s was among those who sadly lost their lives.

Queensland has recorded 19,709 Covid cases overnight and sadly six more deaths.

A person aged in their 20s was among those who died.

More than 640 Covid patients are now being treated in hospitals across the state, with 46 in intensive care.

Queensland’s Health Minister Yvette D’Ath and chief health officer John Gerrard are currently holding a press conference from the Kippa-Ring Vaccination Hub, north of Brisbane.

WATCH THE PRESS CONFERENCE HERE:

COVID-19 Update: The Queensland Health Minister @YvetteDAth is speaking in Kippa-Ring. #covid19 https://t.co/zF1Atl0oKh

— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) January 15, 2022

Dr Gerrard said all of the people who had lost their lives were vaccinated and all had significant underlying health issues.

One person was in their 20s, another in their 70s, two in their 80s and two in their 90s.

Dr Gerrard said the number of hospitalisations had grown by 10 per cent in recent days.

“There is a good chance this is the start of our final surge … before we reach our peak,” Dr Gerrard said.

“Now as we are approaching the peak, if you have flu like symptoms it is likely you have Covid-19.”

Anyone with those symptoms is urged to get a PCR test or take a RAT, however if that is not possible, stay home and isolate, the chief health officer said, as he also warned people not to panic.

“The single most important symptom to look for is difficulty breathing,” he said.

He said if people are having difficulty breathing walking a short distance like between rooms in a house then an ambulance should be called.

People should also go to hospital if they have significant chest pain.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr. John Gerrard with Health Minister Yvette D’Ath. Picture: NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

As of today, 91.48 per cent of Queenslanders over 16 had received their first dose of a Covid vaccine and 88.15 per cent were double-jabbed.

The minister said she was ‘thrilled’ that 8.54 per cent of five to 11 year olds had been vaccinated but urged everyone who was eligible and still unvaccinated - including 5-11 year olds - to get vaccinated this weekend.

“We did get some additional supply of rapid antigen tests yesterday, we are expecting more to arrive today,” she said.

“We’re pleased that we are seeing some extra come in and we are distributing some of those to our testing sites and also to our public health units.”

Almost 890,000 Queenslanders had now received their booster shots, Ms D’Ath said.

Queenslanders were also reminded this morning not to ring triple-0 simply because they have tested positive, with Ms D’Ath saying paramedics were under immense stress.

She also said individual aged care facilities were making their own decisions as to whether they want to welcome visitors.

Today’s figures come as interstate travellers are once again allowed into Queensland without restriction.

From 1am this morning, anyone entering Queensland no longer needs to show a border pass or a negative rapid antigen test result as the state marches towards 90 per cent double dose.

NSW and Victoria recorded almost 75,000 new cases between them overnight.

The NSW caseload grew by another 48,768 cases in the past 24 hours. Sadly another 40 people died as a result of the virus.

While in Victoria 25,526 new Covid cases were recorded overnight and 23 deaths.