Hospital visit limits as Qld’s deadliest day takes toll to 45
QUEENSLAND has joined NSW in reporting its deadliest day of the pandemic so far, with 16 Covid fatalities more than double the state’s previous high.
State Health Minister Yvette D’Ath also used Tuesday’s public update to savage Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the Federal Government for running a series of “chest beating ads” promoting free rapid antigen testing at public clinics before supply had even been secured in Queensland.
Queensland’s pandemic death toll is at 45, a figure that has shot up six-fold in the past fortnight as the virus sweeps across the nation.
The 16 deaths were all elderly, with three in their 70s, eight in their 80s, four in their 90s, and one aged over 100.
Nine were from aged care homes, four were unvaccinated, and only one of the victims had received a booster. Authorities said it was clear that older people without a booster shot were most at risk from the disease.
Ms D’Ath said she wanted answers as to why there had been a lagging take-up of booster shots in aged care homes.
“Are we not messaging properly? Are we not communicating with the residents? Are we not communicating with the families? Why is it there isn’t 100 per cent take up with the boosters?” she said.
“Last year we were talking about this virus finds the unvaccinated, now we can say Omicron finds the elderly who haven’t had a booster and we need to get them boosted.”
Meanwhile, limits have been placed on visitations to Queensland hospitals, with just two people allowed to visit a patient in a ward at any one time, and only one person allowed to visit a patient in an emergency department. This was in response to large family groups visiting.
Case numbers remain high on the Gold Coast, with other spikes in Cairns and Ipswich.
Chief health officer Dr John Gerrard has said while the Gold Coast was the outbreak epicentre, Brisbane’s south was also in the firing line.
“We are expecting Gold Coast to peak sometime in the next week or so.”