Experts have warned COVID-19 is as "serious as it ever was", one year on from Queensland re-opening its borders.
On December 13 last year, Queensland was relatively COVID free. Now the state has recorded more than 1.7 million cases.
Within weeks of the border re-opening, the first wave hit Queensland.
Large lines formed outside testing clinics, hospitals were stretched with furloughed staff and a shortage of intensive care beds, isolation rules forced many workplaces into chaos and disrupted the supply of fresh fruit and vegetables to supermarkets.
A lot has changed in 12 months. Queensland is in the middle of a fourth wave as COVID-19 has become a part of life, but virologists have warned against complacency.
"It seems like a lifetime ago," University of Queensland virologist Associate Professor Ian Mackay said.
"The disease itself is as serious as it ever was."
COVID vaccination push continues
Dr Mackay said vaccinations have proved critical and we now understand a lot more about the virus.
"Two vaccine doses are not enough. People at risk are not all getting the message that a booster is really important. If you haven't had a booster, now is really a good time," he said.
"We've seen a lot of cases, a lot of fatalities, because of infections of those most at risk."
But he said more work could have been done to improve testing accessibility and air quality before the virus came to Queensland.
"We haven't used the time we bought to make indoor air safer. With all we have learned, why don't we now expect the same quality that we would for water purity?"
Virologist Associate Professor Kirsty Short said we are in a different phase of the pandemic.
"We are now in a different situation where we've got to consider things like the risk of long COVID," Dr Short said.
"It is very, very hard to predict if you get COVID, what is your likelihood of getting long COVID."
On the day the state borders opened, Queensland had recorded a total of 2,176 cases and seven deaths after two years of the pandemic.
A year on, the state has recorded 1,714,583 cases and 2,361 deaths.
More than 91 per cent of people aged 16 years and over have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, but the state still lags behind the rest of the country when it comes to its booster rate which is 65.4 per cent.
As of last Wednesday, 320 people were in hospital for COVID-19 with eight requiring intensive care.
There are no public health directions requiring people to wear a face mask and decisions on mandatory vaccinations for workers are now made by the owner or operator of the workplace.
"A lot of people are over this. They don't want to keep fighting it, they are happy to think they are vaccinated and they're safe and that is their choice," Dr Mackay said.
"They are not under mandates now to wear masks and take precautions."
Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said Queensland Health had recorded more than 300,000 lost days by staff due to COVID-19 since March.
What are the rules now?
Testing
If you have symptoms, Queensland Health encourages you to take a COVID-19 test.
A Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) can be purchased at supermarkets and pharmacies, or concession card holders and some other eligible groups can get free RATs at distribution points.
If you test positive on a RAT you are asked to report your positive result on the Queensland Government website.
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests are still available at private pathology providers if you have a GP referral and a Medicare card. You can also get a PCR test at some GP respiratory clinics.
Dr Mackay is critical of how the testing regime changed from a PCR, which gives the most accurate result, to the use of RATs.
"To see the way the testing for the virus suddenly changed, having the burden of testing fall on us. We possibly didn't learn all the lessons we could have."
He said getting a PCR is now much harder and that has allowed the virus to spread possible more than it needed to.
"It's not like it was, but it should be to some extent like it was," Dr Mackay said.
Isolation and masks
It is no longer mandatory to self-isolate at home if you test positive to COVID-19.
However, Queensland Health recommends people to stay at home until they no longer have acute respiratory symptoms, wear a face mask in indoor settings for at least seven days after testing positive and avoid entering hospitals, aged care facilities and disability accommodation for at least seven days and until you have no symptoms.
Queensland Health strongly recommends you stay at home and isolate until your symptoms have substantially reduced and you've gone for at least 24 hours without a fever.
Many workplaces have their own requirements for staff who test positive to COVID-19.
Masks are not mandatory but are recommended if you test positive or have symptoms.
Queensland Health says you may still be asked to wear a mask in certain situations like at your GP clinic, hospitals or around vulnerable people.
Unvaccinated travellers can enter Queensland.
Antivirals
Antivirals are available for people considered at high risk of developing severe illness from COVID-19.
Dr Short said antivirals are very effective at stopping the virus replicating.
"If you can stop the virus replicating you can reduce some of the damage and inflammation," she said.
"The catch with antivirals is they work most effectively if you can get them as early as possible in the infection."
Dr Mackay said that is why early and accurate testing was critical.
Queensland Health advises that people who may benefit from antivirals are:
- 70 years of age or older
- 50 years of age or older, with two other risk factors for severe disease
- You identify as a person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin, are 30 years of age or older with two other risk factors for severe disease
- 18 years or older and immunocompromised.
