“We are going to see thousands of cases of Omicron (variant) in Queensland,” she said.
“We do not have large numbers of people in ICU (intensive care units) but these are early days.
- Premier Palaszczuk
Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said he was not surprised at the rise in cases with the highly transmissible Omicron the dominant variant in Queensland.
“We’ve had locations across the state, Cairns, Townsville, central Queensland...it’s everywhere and we know that we’re not picking up every case,” he said.
Meantime, in a bid to curb the spread of the virus, the sunshine state is returning to mask restrictions.
People working in cinemas, theatres and hospitality, will be required to wear face masks from 5am Thursday.
"We’ve had 257,000 people crossing the border from Victoria, ACT and NSW since Monday. Everyone wants to come to Queensland, but we want to make sure that it is safe," the Premier implored. "If you think about it, it’s more than the population of Townsville has come into Queensland. We are a tourist destination.
"Because the variant, the Omicron is highly contagious, and we want to ensure that Queenslanders and people coming into Queensland have a safe Christmas and New Year. That means we as much protection as we possibly can."
- Premier Palaszczuk
Queensland is expected to hit the 90 per cent fully vaccinated target on Wednesday.
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