6 January 2022
Queensland Health is encouraged by a fall in the state’s reported positive COVID-19 cases as the festive season comes to an end.
Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard said it was reassuring to see reported case numbers drop 30 per cent between late December and early January.
“On 20 December, Queensland recorded 15,325 active cases compared to our post-Christmas number of 10,696 on 4 January,” Dr Gerrard said.
“Hospitalisations however have been slower to decline.
“They peaked at 599 on December 20 and had only fallen 10 per cent to 540 by January 4.
“We suspect this stems from an increase in older Queenslanders getting infected over the Christmas period and the association of age with more severe disease and hospitalisation.
“The median age of Queenslanders getting infected between December 20 and January 4 was 63.
“This is 10 years older than the previous fortnight and is likely due to older people spending time with their family and friends to celebrate the festive season.
“We expect more patients to be discharged in the coming week now that Christmas celebrations have come to an end.”
Dr Gerrard said Queensland’s COVID-19 traffic light system would remain on amber as a result, and that Queensland Health would continue to monitor key COVID-19 metrics to inform its response to the illness.
“COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon, which is why our scientists continue to collect and analyse critical data on test results, infection rates, demographics, and hospitalisations,” he said.
“Doing so means the community can be assured the advice it is receiving is backed by the latest evidence with input from experts in their field.”