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Why Australia's COVID-19 case numbers could be higher than official reports

COVID-19

Members of the public queue in their cars for Covid19 PCR tests at a clinic at North Ryde in Sydney. Source: AAP

Some epidemiologists say the real number of new COVID-19 infections in Australia's most populous states is far higher than what’s being reported, but infections could soon peak.


Published

Updated

By Akash Arora, Marcus Megalokonomos

Presented by Annalyn Violata

Source: SBS



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Some epidemiologists say the real number of new COVID-19 infections in Australia's most populous states is far higher than what’s being reported, but infections could soon peak.


Highlights

  • Actual number of new infections in the community could be up to 10 times higher.
  • Three key reasons to believe the real number of infections is much greater than the reported cases: asymptomatic infection; long testing queues that people set aside getting tested with mild symptoms; those who tested positive through a rapid antigen test don’t register on accounts.
  • Changes to COVID-19 guidelines include removal of the requirement to take a PCR test if people test positive on a rapid antigen test.

Some medical experts fear Australia will not be able to provide accurate COVID-19 case number information this year, warning daily figures reported will not be a true reflection of coronavirus as the public shifts to rapid antigen tests.

 

 


 

 


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