Following the results of a randomized study released on February 3, the actual number of cases of COVID-19 in one of Australia’s most popular tourist destinations will be 5-10 times higher than publicly reported. There is a possibility.
The Gold Coast Public Health Unit made a door-to-door visit to the Gold Coast on January 22 and collected PCR tests from those that found a small sample size.
Results from 117 households showed that 20 randomly selected individuals (about 17%) tested positive for COVID-19, a disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus. ..
Only 4 out of 20 people who tested positive showed some symptoms, and the state government may have lived with the virus with 1 in 6 gold coasters positive at the peak of the Omicron wave in January. Declared to be.
As a result, Dr. John Gerard, Queensland’s Chief Health Officer, states that the number of COVID-19 cases has been publicly reported as “actually meaningless.”
“Yesterday’s Gold Coast study found that 5-10 people were unaware that they were positive for all people who were clearly diagnosed with COVID 19 by PCR or RAT testing,” Gerrard said. Mr. said. I told reporters In Brisbane on February 4th.
“Therefore, the published positive numbers probably do not reflect reality. We know that they do not reflect reality. Therefore, hospitalization is delayed a bit, but a more useful marker. is.”
For more “useful markers,” the government looks at the percentage of tests that are positive and absent from the workforce.
Association of Infectious Disease Experts. Professor Paul Griffin of the University of Queensland said the findings were not unexpected.
“I don’t think it’s a problem. I think that’s what we expected. There are many cases we couldn’t find because the positive rate of the test is as high as ever. I expected, probably five or even ten times what I reported at a particular time, “Griffin told Seven’s Sunrise in February. 4.4.
“We know that especially those who are vaccinated may have few or no symptoms. If anything, it’s a vaccine’s strengths, not weaknesses, and this. I think it really shows us that most of us were really thinking for a while. “
Prime Minister Anastasia Parasek said the findings show that gold coasters need to get vaccinations and booster shots.
“The first results show that COVID-19 is much more common in the community than reported and may go unnoticed by many infectious people,” Parasek said. rice field In release..
“This is especially true for fully vaccinated and boosted Queenslanders who benefit from the protective effects of the vaccine.”
A week later, a follow-up study of another 143 random Gold Coast households conducted on January 29, revealed that the infection rate was halved to 11 out of 143, about 7%.
Of the 11 people who tested positive, 6 showed symptoms and only 2 noticed that they were positive.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the government would monitor the situation and improve its response in the light of updated data and modeling.
The vaccination status of study participants was not specified in this release.
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Caden Pearson is an Australian-based reporter with a background in screenwriting and documentary. Contact him at [email protected]