The number of people hospitalised with COVID-19 in Queensland is likely to exceed 1,000 in coming weeks, the highest number of the pandemic so far, health authorities say.
There are 937 hospital beds across Queensland's private and public health systems being filled by COVID or flu patients, with the current third wave not expected to peak until August.
"This means we have almost the same number of beds being taken up at our peak of the first wave of Omicron," Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said.
"We've probably got another two or three weeks before we hit this peak and we expect these numbers to climb."
More than 2,300 Queensland health staff are off work due to COVID.
Ms D'Ath said staff shortages and high hospital bed capacity had resulted in the "majority" of Queensland hospital and health services (HHS) moving to tier three, "which means they are suspending some of their planned care".
"We believe this … is the appropriate way to manage demand across the health system."
There were 6,768 new COVID cases recorded and 15 more virus-related deaths in the latest reporting period, with an additional 78 people admitted to hospital with the virus.
The number of COVID hospitalisations in Queensland has never surpassed 1,000, but Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said it was "not hard to imagine" that would happen during the current third wave.
He said there had been 10 known deaths in Queensland from the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants, and eight of those were not "up to date" with vaccination.
"Speaking to my colleagues in hospital, the patients we're mostly seeing are people being admitted at ward level, sometimes needing oxygen — mostly elderly, over the age of 60-65," he said.
Triage tents set up
Triage tents are set up outside emergency departments at Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service (GCHHS) and Metro South Hospital and Health Service (MSHHS) to help separate COVID patients from general admissions.
Dr Gerrard said these tents were effective in managing demand.
"I think a number of them have been like that [had triage tents] for a while," Dr Gerrard said.
"They're not just simple tents — these are marquees, they're quite sophisticated facilities.
"It's a good environment to manage these [COVID] patients."
Isolation rules change
Ms D'Ath said the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) had changed isolation rules around the COVID reinfection period.
"If someone has had COVID previously, the rule has been that you do not need to get tested and isolate again unless it'd been 12 weeks," she said.
"AHPPC have now advised that is back to four weeks because we know that people can get reinfected and reinfected quicker with the BA.4 and BA.5 [sub-variants].
"That means if you have symptoms, you've had COVID recently, but you have symptoms and it's been four weeks or more since you had that previous case … you should test yourself and if you're positive you will need to isolate for seven days again."
Dr Gerrard reiterated that masks remained mandatory on public transport and aged care settings, and were encouraged indoors in crowded areas, but a mandate was unlikely to be introduced again.
