Queensland in midst of new COVID-19 wave, Chief Health Officer John Gerrard warns
Queensland has recorded 25 flu-related deaths so far this year and Chief Health Officer John Gerrard is warning a third COVID-19 wave is also now hitting the state.
Key points:
Queensland has recorded 1,199 COVID deaths
Queensland's free flu vaccination program for those aged six months and older ended on Thursday
Almost 30,000 Queenslanders have been diagnosed with the flu so far in 2022
Dr Gerrard said 624 people were in Queensland public hospital beds yesterday with the flu or COVID-19.
"That's effectively an entire teaching hospital taken out of the system with these two viruses," he said.
Dr Gerrard said Queensland was also experiencing an epidemic of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), with the biggest problems occurring in children.
Combined epidemics of flu, COVID-19 and RSV are expected to place unprecedented pressures on the state's hospitals this winter.
Hospital admissions because of COVID-19 have been on the rise throughout June, with Dr Gerrard saying 38 per cent of genomically sequenced cases in Queensland were the newer BA-4 and BA-5 Omicron sub-variants.
"Just three or four weeks ago, it was under 2 per cent," he said.
"We are now in another established wave of COVID-19 due to the BA-4 and BA-5 sub-variants.
"There'll be a stress on the hospitals in the next few weeks as more and more people get admitted."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-28/queensland-covid-wave-flu-chief-health-officer/101186702
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