Queenslanders are being urged to wear masks again as authorities warned Australia was entering a fourth COVID wave triggered by vaccine-resistant variants.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Thursday raised the state’s alert level to amber after a doubling in hospitalisations in the past week.

That means face marks are recommended in indoor settings where people can’t socially distance, healthcare facilities and around older or vulnerable people.

“The fourth wave that we have been expecting, now, we believe, has arrived but no one should be alarmed,” Ms Palaszczuk told parliament on Thursday.

“We have been living with this virus for a long time and Queenslanders know what to do.”

People are advised to take a rapid antigen test every two days if someone in their household has COVID.

Hospitalisations in Queensland more than doubled to 205 in the past week, while 73 people have died and 21,761 new cases have been recorded since the beginning of October.

Vaccine-resistant variants

It came as Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly warned of a spike in COVID-19 cases brought on by the new Omicron variant XBB.

The government is also closely monitoring a second Omicron variant BQ.1 overseas.

Professor Kelly said the latest variants were vaccine-resistant and could evade the body’s immunity from prior infection.

However, they did not appear to pose a greater risk of severe illness and death and vaccines provided “good protection against these outcomes,” he said.

South of the Murray, chief health officer Brett Sutton has advised Victorians how to stay ahead of COVID as case numbers – and hospitalisations – rise again in that state.

Last week, Professor Sutton’s counterpart in NSW, Kerry Chant, warned a new COVID wave was on the way.

“By looking at all the local information we have and what’s happening overseas, we believe COVID cases will rise in the coming weeks,” she said.

Cases in both states rose 25 per cent last week on numbers from the previous week.

Vaccine protection

Queensland’s Health Minister Yvette D’Ath urged people to book in for booster shots to better protect against a fourth wave.

The state’s vaccination rate remains at 91.5 per cent .

“We know that some of the best protection against this virus comes from ensuring that we are fully up to date without booster doses,” she said.

“For most people under 30, it means having three shots. If you’re 50 and over you need, for any person who hasn’t had their third or fourth dose and is eligible, to do so.

“I implore them to head down to the local GP or pharmacy and protect themselves in anticipation of this fourth wave.”

Vulnerable Queenslanders may also be eligible to receive COVID-19 antivirus coupled with vaccination.

“This provides significant protection against the virus and provides the best chance of preventing serious illness,” Ms D’Ath said.

“Queenslanders have been put to the test time and time again and each and every time we have prevailed. I’m sure this time will be no different.”

The state government passed laws last month to scale back the CHO’s pandemic powers to order the state’s borders shut, lock down cities or mandate vaccines for the general public.

Queensland chief health officer John Gerrard will be able to order COVID cases to isolate and close contacts to quarantine and mandate face masks and vaccination in health facilities for another 12 months.

People who test positive for COVID-19 need to isolate and those with symptoms can also be legally ordered to quarantine in one place for up to seven days.

Face mask and vaccination mandates are able to be enforced in hospitals, disability and other high-risk health settings.