The Sunshine Coast is among a list of Queensland cities to have recorded fresh COVID cases on Thursday.
The state recorded 18 new community cases and all those people were infectious while moving around communities in Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Darling Downs, Toowoomba, West Moreton and Wide Bay.
They were out and about for between one and seven days, said Health Minister Yvette D’Ath, and most could be traced back to people coming into Queensland from interstate.
There were another two cases in home quarantine and two in hotel quarantine.
Also, three previously announced cases were confirmed to have the Omicron variant, including a man who flew from Newcastle to Townsville via Brisbane.
Another four Omicron cases were confirmed in Queensland on Thursday, including two in home quarantine and two cases acquired overseas, Ms D’Ath said.
The state now has 67 active cases.
It comes after a man on the Coast was confirmed on Monday to have been infectious in the community for five days.
The increase in daily cases has not come as a surprise, said Ms D’Ath as she warned that COVID was popping up all over the place and “there’s nowhere in Queensland you can hide”.
She said some 61,000 border passes had been issued to people coming from COVID hotspots in other states.
“With all these people coming from interstate, expect more cases,” said Ms D’Ath.
“We can expect more cases, that’s exactly what we’re reporting today, we expect these numbers will keep growing.”
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She said people who had been fully vaccinated were not getting seriously unwell but the unvaccinated had a bigger chance of needing hospitalisation.
Health authorities are now concentrating on the number of people who might need medical treatment or intensive care.
Ms D’Ath pleaded with Queenslanders to resume wearing masks in heavily populated indoor venues and warned there was an “active discussion” about certain settings.
“Please get out those masks, start wearing them anywhere in Queensland,” she said.
-with AAP
