Queensland records 11,947 new Covid-19 cases and 10 deaths

Queensland recorded 11,947 new Covid-19 cases and 10 deaths as the state’s top doctor warned infection numbers could be beyond one million.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath revealed an unvaccinated person in their 30s is among the ten deaths recorded overnight.

“The age of people who died range from their 30s to 90s,” she told reporters on Sunday.

There are now 863 people in hospital across the state, down from 884 from Saturday.

Chief Officer John Gerrard said the amount of people in intensive care also dropped overnight, with 47 patients on Sunday, down from 52 on Saturday.

Of the 47 ICU patients, 14 are on ventilators.

“Three of the 10 people who died were unvaccinated, including the youngest of the group, seven had received two doses and none had boosters,” Dr Gerrard said.

The state’s case numbers continue to drop after 15,050 infections were recorded on Saturday and 16,031 on Friday.

Dr Gerrard on Saturday said the true number of Covid cases the state has had since welcoming interstate visitors could be four times the official number.

“In Queensland, since opening the domestic borders, we have confirmed cases of Covid numbering about a quarter of a million,” he told reporters on Saturday.

“The real number is substantially greater than that. It’s a very large number – it’s almost certainly greater than a million.”

He reiterated the messaging on Sunday, saying the state was yet to reach its peak number of Omicron cases.

Dr Gerrard said he would not be able to say when the peak amount of infections had hit until it passed.

“The real proof will be when numbers of patients continue to fall, it will be the true transition of people in hospital,” he said.

The Gold Coast has the largest number of patients, with nine wards across the area taking care of infected Covid cases.

However, Dr Gerrard expects there could be more to come as the virus spreads into other parts of the state.

“We are expecting it to peak in the next few days, I’m hoping we will start to see it in the coming week,” Dr Gerrard said.

“That’s what the modelling suggests but we don’t like looking at one single day, it’s good the numbers aren’t increasing.”

“I think there’s a lot more to come.”

Ms D’Ath says the peak will “move across the state” once it begins to drop in the Gold Coast.

“So it’s not like we’re going to get this quick peak and then in two or four weeks time, it’s all going to be over and we can get back to our normal lives in Queensland,” she said.

“It will peak in the Gold Coast. It‘ll then move to the border, southeast Queensland and it’ll then move into areas like Cairns and our big tourism areas and then move into our regions.”