Qld Covid-19: Chief health officer says fourth wave has peaked

Queensland’s chief health officer says the state’s latest Covid wave has peaked as the number of people being treated in hospital starts to fall.

The state’s top doctor has declared that Queensland’s latest Covid wave has peaked as the number of patients being treated in hospital starts to fall.

Queensland Health announced on Friday that there were 15,325 Covid cases recorded in the Sunshine State between December 15 and December 21.

This was about 1275 fewer cases than the week before, as another 12 Queenslanders lost their lives to the virus.

The number of patients in intensive care doubled from eight to 16 this week, while the number of patients treated in hospital basically stayed the same between Wednesday last week and Wednesday this week.

Chief Health Officer John Gerrard broke down the hospitalisation figures into more detail, saying there had been 599 hospitalisations on Monday which had fallen 20 per cent to 476 by Thursday.

He said these figures were the most reliable indicator when determining if the wave had peaked.

“While our Covid-19 traffic light will remain on amber through the Christmas and New Year period, I am confident we will return to green early in 2023,” Dr Gerrard said.

“There have been big drops in all of our Covid-19 metrics, including self-reported rapid antigen tests, laboratory-collected PCR tests, the PCR test positivity rate, ambulance call-outs, and cases among aged care residents.”

Dr Gerrard said each of the four waves the state had experienced had taken about 42 days to peak – which will be taken into account when predicting future Covid-19 waves.

“The latest data is encouraging, but you should continue abiding by the recommendations for our amber level and take precautions, including avoiding contact with elderly or vulnerable family and friends if you’re sick,” he said.

“Obviously this is a hectic time of the year, with large crowds due to Christmas and New Year’s Eve parties, family get-togethers, and Christmas shopping.

“The last thing we want to see is a surge in case numbers because of people being complacent.”