January 10, 2022

There have been now almost 350 confirmed cases of COVID-19 recorded in the South Burnett and Cherbourg areas since December 29.

However, this figure is expected to be much larger due to the lag in daily data being released and the fact many people with minor symptoms are not getting tested, or have self-tested with Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) and not lodged their positive result yet with Queensland Health.

Official total figures (see below) show 247 cases in the South Burnett LGA since the State borders re-opened and 97 in the Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council area.

These figures are until 7:00pm on Sunday night.

However, figures posted by Cherbourg Council on Monday afternoon suggest the figure in Cherbourg is now about 140, with an average of three to four new cases being detected daily.

The highest infection rates are in people aged between 20 and 29.

Testing in Cherbourg has been prioritised for the most vulnerable and at-risk community members, including Elders, people with chronic health conditions or who are pregnant; and the unvaccinated.

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Due to COVID restrictions, the JP service at Kingaroy Library has been suspended until further notice.

People should check the State Government website to locate a local JP.

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southburnett.com.au has been keeping track of some basic statistics for local Council areas since the re-opening of the State border on December 13.

These statistics, from Queensland Health, show the total number of confirmed positive cases per Local Government Area since the pandemic began in January 2020.

They are NOT the total of current ACTIVE cases but demonstrate how the virus has spread quickly throughout the local community.

We took snapshots on Dec 13, Dec 21 and daily since December 29.

The latest figures are current to 7:00pm on Sunday (Jan 9):

  • South Burnett: 3 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 18 / 21 / 25 / 39 / 52 / 83 / 135 / 188 / 213 / 239 / 250
  • Cherbourg:  – / – / – / 3 / 12 / 21 / 30 / 51 / 61 / 71 / 74 / 89 / 96 / 96 / 97
  • Toowoomba: 52 / 56 / 233 / 312 / 368 / 396 / 463 / 579 / 665 / 751 / 841 / 940 / 1141 / 1315 / 1405
  • Gympie: 7 / 6 / 23 / 26 / 38 / 43 / 48 / 68 / 82 / 104 / 144 / 169 / 222 / 243 / 270
  • North Burnett: 3 / 3 / 5 / 5 / 8 / 9 / 13 / 13 / 14 / 14 / 17 / 21 / 23 / 27 / 29
  • Somerset: 6 / 6 / 14 / 15 / 15 / 20 / 28 / 34 / 38 / 48 / 64 / 104 / 127 / 160 / 178
  • Western Downs: 3 / 3 / 16 / 18 / 23 / 30 / 36 / 48 / 52 / 60 / 89 / 114 / 140 / 203 / 216

NB. Data is reported by Queensland Health daily but can vary over time due to case reviews. When we took the first snapshots, Cherbourg LGA had not been added to the list by Qld Health as no cases had been recorded there. From December 31, data is current to 7:00pm the previous day.

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Across Queensland, 9581 cases were added to the official State COVID-19 tally during the last reporting period, although a software issue meant figures from four laboratories were missing from this total. 

Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard said there were 21 people with COVID-19 in intensive care, including seven patients on ventilators.

There were also 419 patients in hospital receiving treatment for COVID-19.

Dr Gerrard said a surge appeared to be happening on the Gold Coast: Eleven of the ICU patients and 101 of the hospital ward admissions are on the Coast.

Of these 11, six are unvaccinated. Dr Gerrard said they had the “classical” COVID pneumonia seen earlier in the pre-vaccination era of the pandemic in places such as New York, Rome and Melbourne.

He said the other five patients in ICU are double-vaccinated but also have other complex medical issues, including head injuries.

There are currently 81,581 active COVID-19 cases in Queensland, including 27,087 people receiving COVID care at home.

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