January 18, 2022

The rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus in the South Burnett has forced Council to postpone its official Australia Day awards ceremony, which was to have been held in Blackbutt on Sunday.

A Council statement said the difficult decision had been made due to community safety.

“Council had planned to hold an Australia Day Awards ceremony at the Blackbutt Showgrounds on Sunday, January 23, but due to the rapid spread of the Omicron strain of COVID-19 the ceremony has now been postponed,” a spokesperson said.

“Alternative arrangements are being investigated for the announcement of the awards via video,  and further information will be provided as soon as possible.

“Council staff are contacting award nominees and citizenship ceremony participants as quickly as possible to make them aware of the changed circumstances.”

The latest official figures from Queensland Health show another 40 people in the South Burnett have tested positive to COVID-19 between Sunday and Monday.

January 26 Australia Day community celebrations in Kingaroy, Nanango and Murgon have already been cancelled.

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It has been the deadliest day of the pandemic so far in Queensland, with 16 deaths announced on Tuesday morning.

In the 24 hours to 7:00pm on Monday night, 15,962 new cases were reported across the State and 16 deaths recorded.

Three of the people who died were in their 70s, eight in their 80s, four in their 90s and one person was aged over 100.

Four had not been vaccinated, two had received one dose and 10 had been double vaccinated, but none had received a booster shot.

Nine were aged care residents.

A total of 819 people are being treated for COVID-19 in Queensland hospitals, including 50 in intensive care; 18 patients are on ventilators.

The Queensland death toll since the pandemic began is now 52; with 45 of these deaths having occurred since the borders re-opened on December 13.

Two of most recent deaths were in the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service area.

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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 Monday (Jan 17):

  • South Burnett: 3 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 18 / 21 / 25 / 39 / 52 / 83 / 135 / 188 / 213 / 239 / 250 / 255 / 273 / 289 / 296 / 338 / 346 / 349 / 389
  • * Cherbourg:  – / – / – / 3 / 12 / 21 / 30 / 51 / 61 / 71 / 74 / 89 / 96 / 96 / 97 / 97 / 100 / 100 / 104 / 104 / 104 / 104 / 104
  • Toowoomba: 52 / 56 / 233 / 312 / 368 / 396 / 463 / 579 / 665 / 751 / 841 / 940 / 1141 / 1315 / 1405 / 1565 / 1870 / 1971 / 2119 / 2252 / 2446 / 2539 / 2733
  • Gympie: 7 / 6 / 23 / 26 / 38 / 43 / 48 / 68 / 82 / 104 / 144 / 169 / 222 / 243 / 270 / 304 / 355 / 393 / 425 / 478 / 526 /563 / 633
  • North Burnett: 3 / 3 / 5 / 5 / 8 / 9 / 13 / 13 / 14 / 14 / 17 / 21 / 23 / 27 / 29 / 31 / 31 / 44 / 50 / 54 / 57 / 66 / 77
  • Somerset: 6 / 6 / 14 / 15 / 15 / 20 / 28 / 34 / 38 / 48 / 64 / 104 / 127 / 160 / 178 / 201 / 231 / 282 / 329 / 369 / 397 / 417 / 451
  • Western Downs: 3 / 3 / 16 / 18 / 23 / 30 / 36 / 48 / 52 / 60 / 89 / 114 / 140 / 203 / 216 / 248 / 301 / 357 / 401 / 412 / 435 / 457 / 464

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.

* Cherbourg’s official Queensland Health figures have not been updated since 7:00pm on January 13. However, Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council’s update on Tuesday morning stated there have been five new cases in the community since Monday. There are now 41 active cases in the community and 151 people have recovered. This would take Cherbourg’s total since the Omicron wave began to 192. 

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