Warning to keep guard up for virus
DOCTORS are warning the public to stay vigilant against Covid-19 despite the city warding off the worst of Omicron.
They say the threat and demand put on frontline workers is still real and an immediate shift should not be expected.
On Thursday, chief health officer Dr John Gerrard said the peak had passed the Gold Coast, with a survey showing one in six people in the city had contracted Omicron in January – most of whom did not know it.
He later told the Bulletin the health sector was preparing for a second wave of Covid-19 in the winter.
Public safety restrictions and restrictions for unvaccinated people remain the same despite the crest of the summer wave passing.
Robina GP and Gold Coast Private Health Network board director Dr Lisa Beecham urged people to “still immunise, get boosters, wash hands, sanitise and socially distance” because health staff were still fighting the virus.
AMA Queensland vicepresident Dr Bav Manoharan said this week’s Gold Coast Public Health Unit study highlighted the spread of the virus.
“It’s also a worrying sign of complacency that 20 per cent of people who had tested positive had symptoms but hadn’t sought testing prior,” he said.
“We need a commonsense approach.
“We need to start thinking about how we live with Covid-19 while keeping vulnerable people safe, making sure resources are allocated
appropriately, including (protective equipment) and RATS.
“We know there will be more variants and more outbreaks, particularly with schools returning next week and the overseas border slowly opening up.
“Only about a third (36 per cent) of our children aged five-11 have received one dose of the vaccine, which really does raise concern for the outbreaks to spread from schools to homes once children return to schools.
“Our doctors and nurses are already overworked and exhausted and while it appears that this wave is at the down slope of the peak, we are going to start running into the flu season in a few weeks and possibly another wave of Covid-19 in the winter months.”
The World Health Organisation warned against easing restrictions as the world hit 90 million cases since the Omicron variant was first identified 10 weeks ago.
“It’s premature for any country either to surrender or declare victory,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyeus said.