A child aged under 10 has died with Covid in Queensland, while another seven deaths came in aged care as the state’s pandemic toll jumped by 16.
Queensland has reported another 16 coronavirus deaths – including a child under 10 – as the state’s daily case numbers rise to 9630.
Chief health officer Dr John Gerrard said the child had a very serious and rare underlying inherited medical condition.
The deaths announced on Wednesday were all over 50, six of whom were unvaccinated, with seven of the 16 deaths coming in aged care.
The toll over the course of the pandemic now stands at 225, with all but seven of these fatalities coming in the first 32 days of 2022.
Deaths in aged care account for more than half of the overall tally at 114.
Wednesday’s daily case numbers were up on the 7588 reported in the previous 24 hours, but public sector hospitalisations have dropped from 801 to 764.
The number of people in public sector ICU has dipped from 50 to 49, while 23 people remain on ventilators.
There are 74 patients in private hospitals, one of whom is in ICU.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath on Tuesday said she was dismayed at the losses piling up in nursing homes, a situation she blames on the federal government.
Ms D’Ath said the Commonwealth had offloaded much of the work for the aged care sector onto the states, including requests for states to source hospital beds, protective equipment and rapid antigen tests.
She also lashed the federal government for failing to keep tabs on booster shot data for nursing homes.
“I’m hearing of residents being locked behind doors for days on end, I’m worried about adequate food and staff to provide healthy meals to residents, I’m worried about adequate staff and I’m very concerned that there are not enough aged care residents out there getting the boosters,” Ms D’Ath said on Tuesday.
More to come