Another 18 people have died with COVID-19 in Queensland as the state records 9974 new virus cases amid news it is faring better under Omicron than modelling predicted.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The latest deaths include one person in their 30s who was unvaccinated, and 12 people in aged care, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Friday.
It is the highest daily death rate the state has recorded so far and comes on the second anniversary of Queensland's first COVID-19 case.
"This has been going now for two years and it doesn't make it any easier ... coming here to report these tragedies," Ms Palaszczuk said.
The premier has released modelling showing the "worst case scenario" predicted under the Omicron wave.
It shows 5000 hospital beds could have been needed in the worst case, and 3000 under the "most likely" scenario.
"What we're reporting at the moment is under 1000," Ms Palaszczuk said.
"We were planning for the worst case scenario and it was quite frightening at the time."
For intensive care, 500 beds could have been needed under the worst case scenario.
Currently there are 818 people in Queensland hospitals with the virus, 54 of whom are in intensive care.
Admissions have been dropping in the state, predominantly because of falls on the Gold Coast, Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said.
"We haven't yet begun to see a clear fall in the rest of Queensland," he said, describing the situation across the state as stable.
While the modelling was good news, Dr Gerrard said now was not the time to celebrate and the better outcomes were partially because of people doing the right thing.
"Not because of mandates that we've imposed on Queenslanders, but because of the natural behaviour that they have done themselves to protect themselves," he said.
"This is not over, we're at the peak ... so don't go out and celebrate yet, but the news at this stage is good."
Meanwhile, parents are still in the dark about how face-to-face learning will be managed when students return to the classroom on February 7.
The state's back to school plan is "being finalised at the moment", the premier said.
"Parents will have more than a week to know very clearly what our back to school plan is," she said.
As well as encouraging students to get vaccinated, Dr Gerrard said it was important for parents, teachers and grandparents to have their third jab when they're eligible.
Queensland's double dose vaccination rate currently sits at 89.33 per cent.
Australian Associated Press
