Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard (Photo: Qld Health)

January 13, 2022

Queensland has recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic so far with six deaths added to the tally.

A total of 17 people have now died with COVID in Queensland, with 10 of these deaths in recent weeks.

The latest deaths were two people in their 70s, three in their 80s and one in their 90s.

Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard said all had significant, underlying medical conditions.

Five were double-vaxxed and one was unvaccinated. None had received a booster shot.

Three were in residential aged care.

None of the new deaths were in either the Darling Downs or Wide Bay health service regions.

Dr Gerrard said 14,914 new cases were recorded in Queensland during the past reporting period.

There were now 26 COVID patients in intensive care, including 10 on ventilators. There are also 530 people being treated for COVID in hospital wards.

* * * 

The Nanango Tourism and Development Association announced the cancellation of Nanango’s Australia Day celebrations on Thursday morning.

The event was to have been held at Nanango Showgrounds on January 26.

“Regrettably NaTDA has made the decision to cancel our Australia Day Breakfast at the Nanango Showgrounds,” president Sharon Johnson said.

“This decision was made foremost to protect the health and safety of our community and all our NaTDA members and volunteers.

“The SBRC Affirmation Ceremony in Blackbutt on the 23rd is still going ahead at this stage.

“We thank you all for your continued support.”

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Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced that from 1:00am on Saturday (January 15), Queensland’s domestic border restrictions would be lifted.

She said the changes were possible as Queensland was expected to reach the 90 per cent double dose vaccination target about the end of next week.

“Now is the time for the barricades to come down and for the police to come home and to continue their normal operational duties on the frontline,” she said.

Dr Gerrard said the border restrictions had done their job.

“The border restrictions have served their purpose which is to allow every Queenslander access to the vaccine, they have achieved that,” Dr Gerrard said.

“Every Queenslander has had access to the vaccine, and now the virus, as was always expected, is spreading through Queensland but with a vaccinated population.

“The job has been done and the borders are no longer required.”

Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll shared some statistics since the establishment of the first border checkpoint in March 2020:

There has been:

  • 3.3 million online border pass declarations
  • 3.68 million vehicles checked at road borders
  • 35,902 vehicles turned around at the border
  • 20,247 people directed into quarantine at the border
  • 29,336 domestic flights met by police
  • 1.8 million passengers checked from incoming domestic flights
  • 4452 people refused entry domestically
  • 64,466 passengers directed into quarantine from domestic flights
  • 4112 international flights met by police
  • 117,182 passengers checked from incoming international flights

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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 have taken snapshots on Dec 13, Dec 21 and daily since December 29.

These figures are current to 7:00pm on Wednesday (Jan 12):

  • South Burnett: 3 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 18 / 21 / 25 / 39 / 52 / 83 / 135 / 188 / 213 / 239 / 250 / 255 / 273 / 289
  • Cherbourg:  – / – / – / 3 / 12 / 21 / 30 / 51 / 61 / 71 / 74 / 89 / 96 / 96 / 97 / 97 / 100 / 100
  • Toowoomba: 52 / 56 / 233 / 312 / 368 / 396 / 463 / 579 / 665 / 751 / 841 / 940 / 1141 / 1315 / 1405 / 1565 / 1870 / 1971
  • Gympie: 7 / 6 / 23 / 26 / 38 / 43 / 48 / 68 / 82 / 104 / 144 / 169 / 222 / 243 / 270 / 304 / 355 / 393
  • North Burnett: 3 / 3 / 5 / 5 / 8 / 9 / 13 / 13 / 14 / 14 / 17 / 21 / 23 / 27 / 29 / 31 / 31 / 44
  • Somerset: 6 / 6 / 14 / 15 / 15 / 20 / 28 / 34 / 38 / 48 / 64 / 104 / 127 / 160 / 178 / 201 / 231 / 282
  • Western Downs: 3 / 3 / 16 / 18 / 23 / 30 / 36 / 48 / 52 / 60 / 89 / 114 / 140 / 203 / 216 / 248 / 301 / 357

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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