Queensland has recorded 1589 coronavirus cases as testing rates continue to soar with long queues, despite the scrapping of the day five rule for interstate travellers.
The Premier also announced on Wednesday that people coming to Queensland would no longer have to get a PCR test at a pathology clinic from January 1.
Instead, travellers crossing the border can use a negative rapid antigen test available from shops.
The Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service (SCHHS) is currently caring for 237 COVID patients.
Fourteen of them are at SCUH and 223 patients are at home while being closely monitored by doctors and nurses.
Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard said testing numbers went up on Tuesday despite the day five testing rule being scrapped for travellers which was effective immediately.
There were 35,002 tests done, an increase of 3015 on the previous day.
Dr Gerrard said this suggested people were coming out after Christmas because they were symptomatic.
Testing lines on the Sunshine Coast have been long and causing frustration and chaos on local streets.
A huge line was banked up down Kawana Way for a pop-up testing site on an empty block of land opposite the Birtinya shops.
One SCN reader sent in photos from traffic jams in Arwen Street and Tepequar Drive which were affecting residents of Maroochy Waters Drive.
Kevin Farrell said the location of the testing centre was “completely inappropriate”.
“It should be somewhere other than a medium-density residential area, such as near the football ground off Fishermans Road,” he said.
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Dr Gerrard said despite the rise in cases, there were still no patients in the intensive care unit or on a ventilator which suggested the vaccines were working.
He said Omicron now accounted for around 80 per cent of cases and was more dominant than any other state.
Dr Gerrard said infections had been picked up in rural and remote locations including one on Thursday Island.
The decision to scrap PCR tests came after mounting political pressure.
However, the test kits are in short supply in NSW, with residents reporting they are impossible to buy.
Visitors to Queensland had previously required a negative PCR test within 72 hours of coming to the state.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet begged the Queensland government to ease border entry requirements, saying the “tourism testing” had clogged an overwhelmed testing system.
Of the tens of thousands of travellers who have crossed state lines since the Queensland border reopened, only 0.6 per cent have recorded a positive result in the day five test.
NSW records 11,201 cases
NSW has recorded a dramatic rise in coronavirus cases with almost twice as many people being confirmed with the virus overnight.
The state reported 11,201 cases on Wednesday with 157,758 tests in the last 24 hours.
There are now 625 people in hospital with the virus, with 61 of them in intensive care, one more than on Tuesday.
NSW also announced a further three deaths.
The new figures came as demand pushed testing centres beyond capacity.
Thousands of people across NSW – including travellers required to have a negative PCR test before arriving in Queensland – queued for hours to be swabbed.
-with AAP
