All seven deaths were elderly people without their booster shots – two people in their 80s and five in their 90s. Two of these people were unvaccinated. The state’s death toll has now risen to 36, having been steady at seven deaths for eight months until January 5. There were 15,122 new cases on Monday, down on the 17,445 people who tested positive in the 24 hours to 7pm on Saturday, while Queensland’s total coronavirus caseload is at a significantly reduced 86,953 people as a result of new reporting measures. There are now 702 people requiring care in Queensland hospitals – up from 670 at the weekend – with 49 people in ICU remaining steady. There are currently 15 ICU patients currently on ventilators, one less than the weekend’s tally. Three new deaths were reported on Sunday – all people with underlying health conditions – something chief health officer Dr John Gerrard said was a common factor among the people who had died from the virus in Queensland. The jump in fatalities follows the opening of state’s borders to travellers from hotspot regions, which itself coincided with the arrival and spread of the highly contagious Omicron strain. That said, the state’s death count is dwarfed by the number of fatalities recorded in NSW and Victoria over the past two years, and represents about 1 per cent of Australia’s total deaths. Queensland scrapped its domestic border restrictions on Saturday and is edging closer to the 90 per cent double vaccination mark that it said would trigger the green light for vaccinated international arrivals. Dr Gerrard on Sunday said Queensland Health has had 2643 hospital staff who have tested positive for Covid and 2835 public health staff in quarantine.He remains confident that private and public hospitals will absorb the increasing caseload as the peak of the Omicron wave approaches in the coming weeks.
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