It’s party time for Covid to get festy
PARTY season could spell disaster for Covid numbers, experts warn, as Queensland Health reports a large increase in numbers over the past week.
Cases jumped to 13,632 from December 1 to December 7, up from 11,217 the previous week.
Sadly, 15 deaths were reported during this time, 320 were receiving hospital care in both private and public hospitals and eight of those were in intensive care.
“It’s party season and anecdotally we are hearing of people not wanting to test for the virus just in case they are positive and don’t want to miss out on events. Queenslanders need to know we are not over the wave and could see numbers continue to soar over the next few weeks with people attending festive gatherings, taking holidays and moving interstate,” the state’s top infectious disease expert Prof Paul Griffin said. In the week from November 17 to 23 the case numbers were 10,082.
“It’s not a good sign that numbers are continuing to grow and the biggest issue is that we don’t really have a true indication of real numbers as Queensland’s testing rates are low.
“We have debated as to when the wave will peak and it’s getting impossible to say with the information at hand.
“We can only be sure the virus has not gone away and Christmas festivities and end of year holidays is not going to help the problem,” Prof Griffin said.
The expert said that Queenslanders need to remember that wearing a mask is an added protection.
“We are not seeing enough masks. It just makes sense in some situations. Testing is so important and shouldn’t be disregarded and of course vaccinations are vital. Keep up with jabs. Just remember we are still in this,” he said.