People are being urged to “go above and beyond” the mask mandate by wearing one at any public indoor setting such as cinemas, bars and cafes.
Queensland reported 59 new infections on Monday — including three on the Sunshine Coast — as the Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard said cases were roughly doubling every 48 hours.
Currently there are 24 active cases in the Sunshine Coast region of 197 in Queensland and new exposure sites have been listed in Caloundra and Noosa (scroll down for details). There are 43 confirmed Omicron cases in the state.
The other areas to record new cases were Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Toowoomba and Townsville.
Dr Gerrard said it was inevitable that cases would continue to rise as the Omicron variant was spreading faster than had been anticipated.
However of all the current active cases in the state, there was only one person in hospital who was “moderately unwell” and that person was unvaccinated.
Dr Gerrard said people were more likely to get seriously ill in their second week of infection so the next one to two weeks would provide more of an indication about trends in hospitalisation.
However he said most people were being treated in the home unless there were issues such as vulnerable family members, in which case they were entering hospital.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the mask mandate which now applies to shops and retail centres would not be expanded to other settings, but she urged people to wear one anyway when entering indoor venues.
This included theatres, cinemas, cafes, bars and restaurants.
Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said to date 195,856 border passes had been issued.
Police intercepted 3314 vehicles at the border with NSW and turned away 199 and placed another eight in quarantine.
At the airport, 40 were refused entry and 15 sent to quarantine.
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In NSW, Premier Dominic Perrottet is resisting calls to bring back mask mandates, saying it was time for “personal responsibility”.
“We are treating the people of our state like adults,” he said on Monday.
NSW recorded 2501 COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours until 8pm on Sunday — a drop of 65 cases on the previous day’s record high of 2566.
However, the number of people in hospital is gradually creeping up and health experts say cases will explode in January without a return to some restrictions.
Dan Suan, an immunologist at Westmead Hospital, said the Omicron variant was much more contagious than any previous strain.
“Sydney is sleepwalking into a catastrophic disaster in January if we don’t do something about it right now,” he said in a Facebook post.
“The only people that are really really protected from the Omicron infection are people who have a normal immune system and have been triple vaccinated.”
With Christmas fast approaching, Mr Perrottet said case numbers were bound to rise and everyone is “likely to have a close encounter with COVID”.
“We are taking a balanced and proportionate response” and the government will adjust its settings if required, he said.
“We need to stand strong. We are going to lead our nation out of the pandemic … we are ready,” he said.
“We need to also move away from fear and move to hope and confidence.”
The premier again urged people to get a booster shot as soon as possible, saying state vaccination hubs will remain open over the Christmas break.
Of the 33 people in ICU, 26 were unvaccinated, proving that vaccination was the best protection against the virus, he said.
Latest low-risk exposure sites
Caloundra
- Friday 17 December: Seasons IGA, Caloundra, 7:05pm – 7:30pm
- Friday 17 December: BWS Caloundra Barn, 7:33pm – 7:38pm
- Saturday 18 December: The Source Bulk Foods, Caloundra, 9am -12:30pm
- Saturday 18 December: Penang Chinese, Caloundra, 12:30pm – 1:15pm
- Saturday 18 December: Seasons IGA Caloundra, 1:19pm – 1:22pm
- Monday 13 December: Seasons IGA Noosa Junction Plaza, 4.20pm – 4.30pm
- Monday 13 December: Hart and Huntington Tattoo Co, 12pm – 12.47pm
Noosa
- Tuesday 14 December: Livelife Pharmacy Noosaville, Noosa Village Shopping Centre, 12.40pm – 12.50pm
- Tuesday 14 December: Woolworths Noosaville, Noosa Village Shopping Centre, 12pm – 12.30pm
- Tuesday 14 December: Noosa Juicer and Foodcourt, Noosa, 11am – 12pm
- Tuesday 14 December: Tattoo Junction, 28 Sunshine Beach Road, Noosa Heads 10am – 10.15am
-with AAP
