Australia has recorded another 70 deaths from COVID-19 amid calls for more children to get vaccinated.
Sixteen people have died with COVID-19 in Queensland in the latest reporting period, including a child under the age of 10, amid calls for more children to get vaccinated before school returns.
Queensland recorded 9630 new cases after 22,437 tests in the past 24 hours.
Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said the child who died had a “very serious underlying, rare, inherited medical condition”.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the news was “absolutely devastating”.
“It’s our very sad duty today to have to report our first young child that has passed away due to COVID,” she said on Wednesday.
“It’s absolutely devastating to wake up to hear that news.
“Can I … please urge families to get their children vaccinated. School goes back next week, we are expecting to see increased numbers of cases.
“I hope parents have not become complacent,” Dr Gerrard said.
“I don’t want parents to be frightened but if I had a child going back to school I would want them to be vaccinated.”
It comes as 52 people have died from COVID-19 across NSW and Victoria.
NSW recorded 11,807 new COVID-19 cases and 27 deaths on Wednesday, while Victoria had 12,818 new infections and 25 deaths.
Meanwhile, the number of people hospitalised with COVID-19 has fallen in both states.
There are 2,622 people in hospital in NSW – down from 2,749 reported on Tuesday. 170 patients are in ICU.
Victoria has recorded 768 hospitalisations – down from 851. There are 99 people in intensive care.
Elective surgery classed as “non-urgent” will begin resuming next week in NSW as waiting lists grow, but those seeking a procedure in Sydney’s public hospitals will have to keep waiting.
The government announced on Tuesday procedures could resume in private hospitals that are below 75 per cent capacity, as well as regional and rural public hospitals.
Wait times for elective surgery have blown out during the pandemic as surgeries are cancelled to prevent overwhelming hospitals dealing with coronavirus outbreaks.
Non-urgent elective surgery could recommence as soon as next week in Victoria, but nurses are rallying against the restart.
In a letter to doctors on Tuesday, Ramsay Health Care Victorian manager Austin Wills said the private provider had been given advice the state’s ban on most elective surgery would soon be lifted.
“At this point, (the Department of Health) have indicated that restrictions will be revised from urgent only to 50 per cent of allocated lists from the middle of next week,” he wrote.
“We expect to receive formal confirmation of this change by the end of this week and will immediately advise you once this is received so bookings can recommence.”
Category two and three elective surgery was paused earlier this month as Victoria’s ailing health system prepared for an influx of COVID-19 patients amid the Omicron wave.
But COVID-19 hospitalisations dipped below 1000 last week and fell further on Wednesday to 768.
The graph below shows the number of COVID-19 cases admitted to hospitals in Australia. The red line shows the number of cases as a 7-day rolling average, and the syringe icons show when fully vaccinated targets were reached for people aged over 16.
