{"id":362226,"date":"2025-07-03T12:49:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T02:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=362226"},"modified":"2025-07-03T13:08:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T03:08:54","slug":"flu-covid-19-cases-rising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2025\/07\/03\/flu-covid-19-cases-rising\/","title":{"rendered":"Flu, COVID-19 Cases Rising"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Chief Health Officer Dr Heidi Carroll (Photo: Qld Health)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 3, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

Queensland Health has issued an alert over the rising number of hospitalisations in Queensland for influenza and COVID-19.<\/p>\n

During the past week (June 23-29), more than 2800 flu cases have been recorded, the highest number in a single week so far this year.<\/p>\n

Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Heidi Carroll said nearly 300 Queensland hospital beds per day were currently occupied by patients with flu or COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cAround half of all flu hospitalisations and 65 per cent of COVID hospitalisations are among people aged 65 and over,\u201d Dr Carroll said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr Carroll said more than 90 per cent of Queenslanders admitted to hospital with flu or COVID-19 were not up-to-date with their vaccinations.<\/p>\n

\u201cVaccination is especially important for anyone aged 65 years or older and people at higher risk of severe COVID-19. I encourage people to discuss their COVID vaccine and booster options with their vaccine provider,\u201d Dr Carroll said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor influenza, nearly 3000 people have been hospitalised this year with almost all of these hospitalisations (92 per cent) being among people who were not vaccinated.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

This year, nearly 450 children aged between six months and 17 years have been hospitalised for the flu in Queensland.<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren are more likely to catch and spread influenza contributing to transmission in the community, but also young children are vulnerable to serious illness from the flu,\u201d Dr Carroll said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile you may still get the flu after being vaccinated, the primary purpose of the vaccine is to prevent serious illness and hospitalisation.\u201d<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Influenza, RSV and COVID-19 surveillance data as of June 29:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Influenza – 29,514 flu cases so far this year:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • 2904 (10 per cent) were aged less than 5 years, while 5542 (19 per cent) were aged 65 years and over<\/li>\n
  • 2992 people have been admitted to hospital (119 people in hospital on June 29). Of these hospitalisations, 1450 (48 per cent) were aged 65 years and older<\/li>\n
  • There have been 80 flu-related deaths this year<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Respiratory Syncytial Virus – 17,375 RSV cases so far this year:<\/b><\/p>\n

      \n
    • 4737 (27 per cent) were children aged less than two years<\/li>\n
    • 2044 (12 per cent) were admitted to hospital (61 people in hospital on June 29).\u00a0 Of these hospitalisations, 811 (40 per cent) were aged less than two years<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      COVID-19 – 21,297 cases have been reported so far this year:<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

      \n
        \n
      • 5272 (25 per cent) were aged 75 years and over<\/li>\n
      • 4428 (21 per cent) were admitted to hospital (173 people in hospital on June 29).\u00a0 Of these hospitalisations, 2864 (65 per cent) were aged 65 years and older.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Queensland Health has issued an alert over the rising number of hospitalisations in Queensland for influenza and COVID-19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":362228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1455,172,3],"tags":[1551],"yoast_head":"\nFlu, COVID-19 Cases Rising - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Queensland Health has issued an alert over the rising number of hospitalisations in Queensland for influenza and COVID-19.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2025\/07\/03\/flu-covid-19-cases-rising\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Flu, COVID-19 Cases Rising - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Queensland Health has issued an alert over the rising number of hospitalisations in Queensland for influenza and COVID-19.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2025\/07\/03\/flu-covid-19-cases-rising\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-03T02:49:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-03T03:08:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/heidicarroll2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2025\/07\/03\/flu-covid-19-cases-rising\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2025\/07\/03\/flu-covid-19-cases-rising\/\",\"name\":\"Flu, COVID-19 Cases Rising - 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