September 1, 2022
COVID vaccination mandates will ease this week in most health care settings, except Queensland Health facilities.
The Public Health Direction mandating COVID-19 vaccination requirements for workers in health care settings will be revoked in Queensland on Friday (September 2).
But Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said Queensland Health workers will still be required to stay up-to-date with their COVID vaccinations, as will workers in aged and disability care facilities.
However, it will be up to individual private hospitals to determine their position on vaccinations.
“With the peak of the third wave behind us, it’s now up to employers to decide if they impose COVID vaccine mandates on private health care workers,” she said.
“To protect vulnerable residents in aged and disability care, a COVID vaccine mandate in these facilities will be retained.
“The Queensland Health staff vaccination directive will also remain in place to ensure the safety of employees, patients, visitors and the wider community.
“With 93 per cent of Queenslanders double-vaccinated and the most recent peak having passed, now is the right time to transition responsibilities for managing the vaccination requirements of workers in private hospitals, primary care and private allied health to those employers.
“Whether vaccination is required for these individuals is now a matter for individual employers as part of normal workplace health and safety obligations.”
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Statistics released by Queensland Health on Thursday morning show another 2033 people have been officially diagnosed with COVID-19 in the State during the latest reporting period, taking the total since the pandemic began to 1,608,401.
A total of 308 people were being treated for COVID-19 in Queensland hospitals, including 11 in intensive care units.
The COVID-19 death toll in Queensland also rose by another 16 cases on Thursday to 1985.
All but seven of these deaths have occurred during the Omicron wave which coincided with the opening of the State borders in December last year.
The total number of deaths in the Darling Downs Health region – which includes the South Burnett – since the pandemic began now stands at 133; 36 of these deaths have occurred since August 1.
The number of positive COVID-19 cases among First Nations’ Queenslanders also continues to rise.
On Thursday, the official Queensland figure since the pandemic began stood at 104,114, compared with 94,901 on August 2.
The number of First Nations deaths has not been officially released.
(These are officially recorded figures only; experts have stated the real level of infection across Australia is much higher than official statistics).
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southburnett.com.au has been keeping track of some basic statistics for local Council areas.
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 throughout the local community during the Omicron wave.
The first figure is the cumulative number of positive cases as at 7:00pm on Wednesday (August 31), while the second is the figure as at December 13, 2021, when the State border reopened.
- South Burnett: 1722 (3)
- Cherbourg: 372 (-)
- Toowoomba: 18,439 (52)
- Gympie: 4133 (7)
- North Burnett: 704 (3)
- Somerset: 1972 (6)
- Western Downs: 1727 (3)
NB. Data is reported by Queensland Health. 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. Numbers for all regions must also be considered underestimated. Not everyone who has tested positive using a Rapid Antigen Test has reported their result to Queensland Health. Also, the official statistics show 909,259 positive results (as at August 31) which have not been allocated to a Local Government Area.
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Legislation to end the emergency framework for managing COVID has been introduced to State Parliament.
Minister D’Ath said existing legislative emergency powers would lapse as planned on October 31 to be replaced by a limited set of temporary and targeted measures to manage COVID-19.
“The time-limited powers in this Bill are a significant step down from the broad powers and discretion exercised by the Chief Health Officer during the public health emergency phase,” she said.
“The legislation retains only those powers that are likely to be necessary to manage serious risks in the post-emergency environment and to maintain a nationally consistent approach to responding to COVID-19.”
The Public Health and Other Legislation Amendment (COVID-19 Management) Amendment Bill 2022 will limit the Chief Health Officer’s power to issue public health directions to the three key measures that are most likely to be needed over the next 12 months.
The Bill will allow the Chief Health Officer to make directions about:
- Mask-wearing in stated circumstances;
- Isolation for positive COVID-19 cases and quarantine for close contacts with symptoms; and
- Vaccinations for workers in certain settings.
The Bill also provides that the Chief Health Officer can only issue a public health direction if satisfied the direction is reasonably necessary to:
- Prevent or respond to a serious risk to the public health system or the community as a result of COVID-19, or
- Give effect to decisions of National Cabinet or advice from national advisory bodies relating to the public health response to COVID-19.
“These safeguards will ensure that directions continue to be used only when necessary and in line with the current public health response to COVID-19,” the Minister said.
The powers will have a sunset clause of October 31, 2023.
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