Queensland records two new cases in past 24 hours after death of Tasmanian man, 90

Queensland has recorded two new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, taking the week’s total to just 16 compared with 54 last week. It comes as Australia records its 80th COVID-19 death.

ANOTHER two cases of pandemic coronavirus have been diagnosed in Queensland overnight, as the national death toll from the virus rises to 80.

Since last Saturday, Queensland has recorded just 16 new cases of the virus compared with 54 new infections last week, indicating the growth rate of new cases continues to trend down – ongoing evidence that the state is “flattening the curve”.

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Queensland has recorded just 16 cases of coronavirus in the past week. Picture: Saeed Khan

But experts will be watching case numbers very closely in the next fortnight following a loosening of who is eligible to be tested for the new virus.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young yesterday changed the testing criteria to allow anyone showing symptoms of COVID-19, such as a fever, cough, sore throat or breathlessness, to be tested.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young.

More than 97,000 tests have been conducted for the novel coronavirus in Queensland during the past three months, accounting for about 1800 tests per 100,000 people.

Of Queensland’s 1026 cases, 803 people have recovered and 217 cases remain active.

Six Queenslanders, all in their 60s or older, have died.

Eighteen people remain in Queensland hospitals with COVID-19, six of them in intensive care.

The total number of infections in the state remains at 1026 because Queensland Health has had to revise the numbers down based on updated information.

It comes after a 90-year-old man became the 10th person to die from the virus in Tasmania.

The man, who was from the state’s northwest, died at the Mersey Community Hospital in Latrobe on Friday.

“On behalf of the Tasmanian government I would like to extend my heartfelt sympathies to (his) family, friends and loved ones,” Premier Peter Gutwein said in a statement on Saturday.

The man’s death takes the national COVID-19 toll to 80.

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Originally published as Queensland records two new cases in past 24 hours after death of Tasmanian man, 90