Queensland Covid cases predicted to explode over Christmas holidays

Experts fear pre-holiday celebrations could become superspreader events with warnings of a new Covid wave in Queensland just in time for Christmas.

Infectious diseases experts are urging Queenslanders to take extra precautions in coming weeks with fears Covid cases will explode over the Christmas holidays.

Despite Queensland’s Covid-19 public health emergency ending on October 31, University of Sydney infectious diseases expert Professor Robert Booy said people should be still looking at downsizing their gatherings to avoid spreading the virus.

“Whenever there are events, with lots of humans, milling together in crowds for extended periods, you have the potential for a super spreader event, Christmas to New Year, big examples” he said.

“The practical approach in Queensland is to have smaller events for shorter periods and based outside instead of inside and if anyone is symptomatic that they should be wearing a mask, and if anyone is vulnerable because of age, or immunosuppression, they should also wear a mask”.

Experts are warning of a new Covid wave in Queensland in time for Christmas.

Professor Booy’s warning comes after Covid cases in Victoria increased by nearly 25 per cent in just a week.

Another wave of coronavirus is taking hold in Australia according to health authorities, driven by two new variants of Covid-19.

The new variants, named XBB and BQ. 1, have been detected in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia, with cases and hospitalisations rising after what had been months of declines.

“Covid is still a killer, and it kills far more vulnerable people than influenza so, taking precautions is wise” Prof Booy said.

Queensland Health reported 4447 new cases of Covid-19 from October 20-26, with 105 people in hospital and 18 Covid-related deaths.

Another cause of potential Covid outbreaks throughout the Christmas period is the number of Australians not being up to date with their booster vaccines, University of Queensland’s infectious diseases expert Professor Griffin revealed.

“Most concerning is our uptake of boosters has actually been slower than the increasing eligibility of people, so our proportion of people up to date with their vaccines is actually declining” he said.

Professor Booy has even said Aussies have become overly complacent in regards to Covid boosters.

“Australians are undoubtedly complacent, they’re bored, they’re burnt out, they want to move on, but Covid hasn’t moved on, and people can’t make a virus move on” he said.

“If you haven’t had a booster for six months, and you’re vulnerable, make sure you get the appropriate booster for your age band.”

Experts are encouraging Queenslanders to downsize their Christmas celebrations to prevent them from becoming superspreader events.

Just days after chief health officer Dr John Gerrard, confirmed the state will respond to Covid-19 with a new traffic light system, Professor Griffin said the new relaxed approach wouldn’t adequately protect Queenslanders.

“It’s clear, there is going to continue to be a risk with Covid in the community, and the drivers of the risk at the moment include that new sub-variants that are circulating, X BB and BQ, in particular, as well as whatever new sub-variants emerge over the coming weeks” he said.

New mutations of Covid are spreading throughout Australia, leading to a rise in positive cases.

“And then coupled that with the fact that all their strategies to control this virus have been wound back recently, so we obviously have reductions in mask wearing in mandatory isolation, for example.

“My concern is that lack of preparedness as we’re quite quickly winding a lot of things back as we’re seeing the emergence of new variants that are likely to be challenging, we just need to keep our basic level of preparedness at a level that keeps us safe,

“And I’m just concerned, we might not necessarily be doing that.”

Professor Booy said despite fears of a Christmas wave in Queensland, he was confident mutations will slow down over the next year.

“There’s every possibility of having outbreaks, because we’ve got crowding of large numbers in small spaces” he said.

“Having said that, the Covid-19 virus is running out of new ways to mutate and change to make it more transmissible and less prone to antibody attack.,

“So we have the real hope that Covid disease will be better next year, provided a new variant doesn’t arise in the next few weeks and months”.