The number of Queenslanders in hospital with COVID-19 has risen, continuing to put pressure on health services, Health Minister Yvette D'Ath says.
Ms D'Ath said there were 914 people in hospital with the virus, compared to 876 on Sunday and 921 on Saturday, including 18 people in ICU.
"The number of reported cases at the moment active, are 49,369. We also have an additional 141 new influenza cases reported overnight," Ms D'Ath said.
"We currently have 967 hospital beds being taken up with either COVID patients or influenza patients which we know puts a lot of strain on our hospital system.
"Those sort of numbers are equivalent of one and a half times the Sunshine Coast University Hospital, just dealing with COVID and flu patients."
There were 6,692 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the last day.
Ms D'Ath said 2,477 Queensland Health staff were off work sick with the virus.
"On average, we would have about 3 per cent of our staff that would be sick on leave, but we are averaging between 6 and 7 per cent. When you look at the beds being taken up with COVID and the reduced staffing, you get an idea of the pressures being faced across our hospital systems."
Ms D'Ath said she strongly recommended anyone who was in a crowded area to wear a mask, and it was still mandated in healthcare settings.
"We have all the experts in the world who are doing their best to try to predict what happens with COVID-19, but no-one can truly know," she said.
"We thought the advice we were getting and the modelling we saw at the start of the year, as you would expect each wave, we would keep having waves for months and years but they would slowly reduce and our immunity would build but with these new variants and sub-variants, we're not seeing that.
Demand outstripping supply
Ms D'Ath said triage tents outside of emergency departments were working well to "separate" COVID patients and "reduce the spread and demands in the waiting room".
"We've got paramedics actually stationed on those bases to help with the turnaround and we've been trialling things like new electronic stretchers that actually change over stretchers.
"Metro North is trialling having nurses actually walking the waiting rooms in the EDs so that they can keep checking on patients. And they can also reassure them as far as the times because sometimes people feel like they're a bit forgotten.
She said states and territory health services were working together to try and deal with staffing pressures.
"We have just exhausted all avenues of trying to find locums," she said.
"When a doctor who is due to do an important surgery that day wakes up feeling unwell, takes a test and finds out they're positive they can't walk into this hospital. They can't walk into their operating theatre and do that surgery that day."
She said Queensland Health was also reaching out to hospitals and health services around the state to try and move staff into position.
