‘Tense and tough’: CHO reveals how next few weeks will unfold as Omicron peaks

The state’s top doctor has outlined how the health system will respond as Queensland’s Omicron surge reaches its peak, warning of ‘substantially more’ ICU admissions in the weeks ahead.

The next three weeks will be “tense” in hospitals as staff prepare for the rapid escalation of Covid-related admissions, according to the state’s top doctor.

Queensland is predicted to see a “short, sharp peak” of cases within the community by the last week of January into the first week of February.

“The next three weeks will be tough. There will be a lot more people admitted to hospital,” chief health officer Dr John Gerrard explained.

There are now more than 100,000 people infected with Covid in the state and cases are on the rise in hospitals before they reach a peak at the start of February.

A plateau of cases in hospitals is expected a week or so after the plateau in the community.

Dr John Gerrard updates the media on the state’s COVID-19 situation in Brisbane on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire/Sarah Marshall

“That is (hospital admissions) escalating fairly rapidly, and that is exactly what it is expected to do and will continue based on our projections, until the beginning of February,” Dr Gerrard said.

The state now has 27 ICU admissions including six who are on ventilators, however this number is expected to “rapidly escalate” in the coming weeks.

During the peak, most of the “substantial” admissions should only be in the moderate range, with only some requiring the ICU.

Dr Gerrard said the bulk of hospitalisations will be for ‘moderate illness’ including the elderly and those with underlying medical issues admitted for monitoring, and possibly oxygen, for a few days before going home.

“I must emphasise, there will be substantially more intensive care admissions than 27, this is a very small number,” he said.

People line up for Covid vaccinations at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre at South Brisbane. Photo: Tara Croser.

He said ‘vaccines are working’ and used the comparison between Tokyo at the beginning of the pandemic which had 700 cases but more than 30 people on ventilators compared to Queensland today which has more than 100,000 active cases but only six on ventilators.

Dr Gerrard also said that delaying the start of school by two weeks will help “flatten” the peak by reducing outbreaks during the height of cases.

He said the majority of healthy, vaccinated Queenslanders should be able to go about their lives as “normal” and it shouldn’t be a big disruption at this stage.

“I think it’s the anxiety of the unknown and it is just another virus,” he said.

“There’s nothing mystical or magical about it, it’s just another respiratory virus and in this case we’ve got an effective vaccine.”

After the initial anxiety of the pandemic has settled, he said people will begin to have less “fear of the unknown” when it comes to the Covid outbreak.

“I think we should continue our lives as normal, that is our plan, that is our way forward,” he said.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said that delaying school would also help health workers avoid missing vital work.

“There’s a lot of staff here with young children, if those young children quickly spread the virus over our peak, that’s more health workers offline,” she said.

Originally published as ‘Tense and tough’: CHO reveals how next few weeks will unfold as Omicron peaks