Annastacia Palaszczuk reveals Queensland’s Covid hospitalisations peaked at 925 – after modelling predicted 5,000
- Another eight people have died with COVID-19 in Queensland, 5,854 new cases
- Latest deaths were aged 60s to 90s, only one had received a third booster shot
- Covid hospitalisations peaked in January at 925, far below worst case scenario
- ICU numbers peaked at 71, compared to modelling of up to 500, premier said
By NICK GIBBS IN BRISBANE FOR AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: 12:19 AEDT, 10 February 2022 | UPDATED: 14:18 AEDT, 10 February 2022
Another eight people have died with COVID-19 in Queensland as the state records 5,854 new virus cases and hospital admissions continue to drop.
The latest deaths were aged between their 60s and 90s, and only one had received a third booster shot.
It comes as the state releases hospital admissions figures for the peak of the Omicron wave, compared to what early modelling suggested.
ICU numbers peaked at 71, compared to modelling of up to 500, premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Thursday
In the worst case scenario, up to 5,000 beds would have been needed for COVID-19 patients in Queensland, however the peak was just 925 in late January.
ICU numbers peaked at 71, compared to modelling of up to 500, premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Thursday.
‘I’d love to say it’s over, but its not,’ she said, foreshadowing the tail end of the current wave in early March, ahead of a potential flu season in winter.
Public hospital admissions for COVID-19 are now at 579, compared to 628 the previous day.
Yet a top doctor says Australia now has a wall of immunity against Covid
Comment:
So which is it? Australia is now out of the woods, or shall we believe Annastacia it’s not over yet?
I think the above modelling fiasco tells us all — Enough is enough!!!
Dominic Perrottet hints Australia’s nees for masks WILL get the chop – and says a huge list of restrictions will be GONE in a fortnight
- Dominic Perrottet has hinted mandatory mask rules will be scrapped in fortnight
- NSW Premier appeared on Sunrise on Thursday morning discussing roadmap
- State set to see mass overhaul of Covid restrictions from February 27
By SAM MCPHEE FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
PUBLISHED: 08:58 AEDT, 10 February 2022 | UPDATED: 09:13 AEDT, 10 February 2022
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said he wants to ‘bring life back to the CBD’ as the state’s most hated Covid restrictions including mandatory mask use are set to be dropped within a fortnight.
Residents can expect to be asked to return to their desks from March 1, with rules around masks also set to be scrapped from this date.
The state’s Premier Dominic Perrottet said it was a ‘civic duty’ to bring workers back to the CBD in a move that is predicted to bring social and economic benefits.
‘We are very much on track to have most of those restrictions lifted on the 27th February,’ Mr Perrottet told Sunrise on Thursday morning.
The return of workers into the office will align with the state government’s plans to scrap masks in all indoor settings.
Mr Perrottet is said to be hoping the rule change will breathe life back into the Sydney CBD as the Omicron wave of new Covid cases continues to decline.
Currently, masks must be worn in all indoor public venues including supermarkets, shopping centres, pubs and cafes.
Mr Perrottet said ‘you can’t have people come back into the CBD where they have to wear masks’ and confirmed his cabinet were meeting to discuss the lifting of all Covid restrictions.
He said the NSW Goverment were still working through a number of other issues but would re-convene on mask use and density levels before the February 27 cut-off date.
‘My focus has been to get kids back into the classroom on day one, term one, and we also want to bring back the remaining areas of non-elective surgery,’ he said.
‘Those are the two key focuses for us right now.
The state’s Premier Dominic Perrottet (pictured) said it was a ‘civic duty’ to bring workers back to the CBD in a move that is predicted to bring social and economic benefits
The NSW premier also described the traditional school hours as ‘archaic’ on Wednesday, his latest rant about the failures of the education system.
Mr Perrottet was challenged by a reporter who questioned whether an earlier school day would benefit parents who work normal 9am to 5pm day jobs.
The premier earlier this week flagged the traditional school day may soon be overhauled to give parents more flexibility and reduce congestion on NSW roads.
‘This is all about making it easier for parents across our state,’ Mr Perrottet said on Wednesday. ‘The 9am-3pm school hours belong in an archaic period of time.’
‘If we were starting school timetables today, lets say we just came up with the concept of school – would you have 9am-3pm school hours?’ Mr Perrottet asked.
The reporter replied by saying the traditional system already worked well for parents who could drop their children off at 8.30am and be at work for 9am.
He added an earlier start could work if there was an injection in funding for after-school care.
Radio Host Ben Fordham launches a SCATHING attack on ABC’s ‘health expert’ Dr Norman Swan and urges Aussies NOT to listen to his Covid ‘alarmism’
- Radio broadcaster slams ‘alarmist’ experts spreading fear about Covid-19
- Ben Fordham accused doomsayers of ‘scaring the living daylights of people’
- Comes after South African doctor who discovered Omicron claimed she come under attack
- Fordham urged Dr Angelique Coetzee to not give in to the scaremongerers
By KYLIE STEVENS FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
PUBLISHED: 13:33 AEDT, 10 February 2022 | UPDATED: 18:34 AEDT, 10 February 2022
Radio broadcaster Ben Fordham has launched another blistering attack on the doomsayer experts leading a Covid-19 fear campaign – while leaping to the defence of the South African doctor who ‘discovered’ the highly infectious Omicron variant.
Angelique Coetzee claims she has been subject to ‘attacks’ and vile abuse from scientists, doctors and politicians across the world who have accused her of downplaying the strain – after she declared Omicron was ‘mild’ at the start of the outbreak.
The doctor’s revelations prompted the 2GB breakfast host to slam the ‘alarmist’ experts in Australia who are ‘scaring the living daylights out of people’.
The Sydney broadcaster singled out leading GP and former Australian Medical Association doctor Kerryn Phelps, epidemiologist Raina MacIntyre and ABC commentator Dr Norman Swan – whom Fordham claimed hadn’t practiced medicine in almost four decades.
Ben Fordham calls out alarmist doctors on COVID ‘scare campaign’
Dr Kerryn Phelps was branded an ‘alarmist’ by radio broadcaster Ben Fordham on Thursday
Fordham believes Dr Coetzee came under attack because she doesn’t suit the Covid alarmists and urged listeners to not listen to them, citing low death rates from the variant.
‘This doctor should be celebrated for her groundbreaking research on coronavirus but instead she had people trying to convince her to shut her mouth,’ he said.
‘The death rate from Omicron is 0.1 per cent. Its fatality rate is the same as a bad flu season in Australia.
‘But the scare campaign has been in overdrive. At the start of the pandemic we were warned about 150,000 deaths in Australia. We’ve had 4,300.’
‘All tragic but nothing like we warned about.’
Hospitalisations and ICU admissions have remained below the peak experienced during last year’s Delta outbreak, the higher number of Omicron cases.
Fordham slammed ‘Covid cheerleader’ Dr Swan’s recent claims that Omicron was not as mild and gave little to no natural immunity.
‘Norman Swan was ignoring the science, he was ignoring the scientist who discovered Omicron,’ Fordham said.
ABC presenter and ‘Covid cheerleader’ Norman Swan (pictured) was accused of ‘ignoring the science’
He then labelled Dr Phelps as an ‘alarmist’ after her recent claim on Twitter that her home state NSW had ‘surrounded to Covid.’
She also posted an alarming video warning parents not to send their kids back to school during the Omicron outbreak
It prompting a three-word response Australia’s former deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth who urged people to ‘Ignore this individual.’
‘She spends her days on Twitter slamming (Prime Minister) Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet,’ Fordham said.
‘And to this day, we think we can eliminate the virus.’
- Major change to vaccine rule that will affect EVERY…Australians could get Covid booster shots EARLY in light of…
Early on in the pandemic, Professor MacIntyre predicted Australia could suffer 400,000 deaths to the virus
Fordham slammed her recent warning that NSW would face grim times over summer because of Premier Perrottet’s ‘magical freedoms’.
‘There was nothing magical about it. I was able to enjoy a summer of freedom, catching up with family and friends and going on holidays,’ Fordham said.
‘It seemed real to me.’
He also mocked Professor MacIntyres’s advice to tape up doors and wear masks inside your home to stop the virus spreading.
Dr Coetzee was one of the first to report the new variant in November last year and said it caused ‘mild’ symptoms for those in South Africa.
But she claims she was told by scientists and politicians from around the globe that she was wrong.
‘Because of all of Covid’s mutations, all of these scientists and politicians who aren’t from were contacting me telling me I was wrong when I spoke out, that it was a serious disease … they were telling me I had no idea what I was talking about, they kept attacking me,’ Dr Coetzee told The Daily Telegraph.
‘They are accusing me of lying, of downplaying Omicron because of how it has been in Europe … in their minds, it is impossible for a disease with more than 38 mutations to be mild.
‘I have stated many times before it can be a serious illness if you are unvaccinated and have comorbidities but for the majority of people it is a mild illness. I am the one who has seen the patients first-hand but the politicians won’t listen.’
Comment: We disagree with her assessment that vacccination is the answer…. but good on her for sticking to the truth about Omicron Omicon!!
‘If a clinical feature proves I am wrong, then I will apologise.’
Fordham ended the segment by praising Dr Coetzee, who has vowed to ‘stick to her guns’ and not give into the pressure.
‘Good on you doctor. Don’t give in to the scaremongers,’ he said.
Major change to vaccine rule that will affect EVERY Australian expected in hours as Annastacia Palaszczuk hints she’ll follow Dan Andrews in BANNING international arrivals from going out unless they are TRIPLE vaxxed
- Arrivals may be banned from participating in society without a third jab
- ATAGI is expected to make a decision on whether ‘fully vaxxed’ is triple jabbed
- Queensland Premier says rules may extend to tourists if ATAGI updates advice
- Premier Daniel Andrews said the same rules would apply to those in Victoria
By KYLIE STEVENS FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
PUBLISHED: 07:19 AEDT, 10 February 2022 | UPDATED: 11:07 AEDT, 10 February 2022
Australians may find out within hours if they need to have had their Covid booster shot to be considered a fully vaccinated person.
Fully vaccinated residents are currently determined as those who have had two doses of the Covid vaccine, but the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation could extend this to three shots.
ATAGI is expected to inform National Cabinet of their recommendation when Australia’s Premiers and chief minister meet Scott Morrison on Thursday afternoon.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has already indicated her state may ban international arrivals from participating in society unless they’ve had three doses of the vaccine.
It comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced earlier this week international borders will reopen to double vaccinated travellers on February 21.
Australians will soon find out if they need to have had their Covid booster shot to be considered a fully vaccinated person
It comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced earlier this week international borders will reopen to double vaccinated travellers on February 21
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will follow Victoria’s lead if the definition of fully vaccinated is changed under the health advice from ATAGI
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews had first revealed his state may ban people from going out to pubs, clubs, restaurants and major events unless they’re triple vaccinated – if ATAGI updates its advice.
He has flagged the restrictions could also apply for international tourists who aren’t triple-vaxxed.
- Queensland reports 24 deaths with Covid-19 as Annastacia…Cut-price airfares, $1 breakfasts and once-in-a-lifetime…
Ms Palaszczuk has hinted Queensland may follow suit depending on the decision from ATAGI.
But for now, Queensland will maintain the requirement for international travellers to be double vaccinated when Australia’s borders reopen in less than two weeks.
‘If ATAGI changes that we will absolutely follow suit with Victoria,’ Ms Palaszczuk told reporters.
‘Until I hear any more, the double vaccination is sufficient.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews had first revealed his state may ban people from going out to pubs, clubs and restaurants, and major events unless they’re triple vaccinated – if ATAGI updates its advice
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday said tourists would be allowed to enter Australia as long as they had two vaccinations from February 21
‘We’ve been going through a really tough time with tourism… a lot of our state is heavily reliant on tourism, so the fact that in 12 days borders will be open, that is welcome news for businesses that have really been struggling.
‘We know our tourism industry has been going through a really tough time over the last two years, especially those areas that really rely on international tourism.’
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said he would accept the advice from the immunisation panel.
‘If the definition of fully vaccinated changes for Australia, then obviously we would take on that advice,’ he told The Today Show on Thursday morning.
‘That is a different situation for those people coming from overseas in circumstances where they have different procedures and rules in place for their country.’
Experts have warned it may be ‘too soon’ to mandate a third vaccination for overseas arrivals.
Comment: But what does the Queensland Premier care??
Coercion Code - "Dark Times are upon us" 