Covid Tyranny Rides Again! By James Reed
It is just a top virus expert proposing this, but who knows, the Covid mad establishment may go for it. The Covid expert has called for random Covid testing, presumably compulsory, my hypothesis only, as there are more cases than reported. Ok, but what does it matter, with Covid Omicron racing through the population anyway, giving natural immunity in its wake? The infection is generally mild and many people are not reporting anything, because they do not even know that they are infected.
“A Covid expert has called for random testing over fears cases are going undetected and that the number of infections in the community is higher than official figures.
University of South Australia biostatistics professor Adrian Esterman warned a lack of accountability to ensure people record positive rapid antigen tests, along with asymptomatic infections, is causing cases to go unrecorded.
'We need to do what the UK does: random surveys. They determine how many people they survey have got Covid, and they compare that to the reported number,' professor Esterman told the Guardian.
'There are certainly far more cases than officially reported. This is primarily because about 30 per cent of people infected with Omicron have no symptoms and, therefore, are unlikely to get tested.'
It comes as the number of daily Covid cases in Australia more than doubled from 25,017 to 61,331 last month.
During the peak of last year's Omicron wave, experts warned Covid cases were up to 10 times higher than what was officially being reported due to the nationwide shortage of rapid antigen tests and huge lines at PCR testing sites.
The concerns remain despite a reduction in testing queues and a steady supply of RATs at pharmacies across the country.
Health authorities in the UK have been going door-to-door with mobile testing units to try and snuff out the virus.
'The states mandate that any positive rapid test must be reported, Professor Esterman said.
'However, if people are just buying [rapid tests] from the chemist and it comes out positive, how will the government know they've reported it? They won't, is the answer.'
Professor Esterman is now calling for QR codes to be added to rapid tests, so they can be logged in a similar way to the UK.
He also wants governments across the country to adopt the UK's door-to-door Covid testing.
The UK tests have revealed the majority of people tested through the voluntary scheme had no idea they had the disease.
Last month, Western Australia launched a Covid detection force that will go door to door to randomly test Aussies for the virus. The program is entirely voluntary.
Professor Esterman said there are two reasons that explain the recent rise in cases, one being that most states and territories have removed their public health measures, like mask mandates.
'All the social distancing measures, and all those [measures] have been put in place to reduce transmission,' Professor Estermen said.
'So if the nation still has an outbreak and the rules are removed, it's natural for the cases to increase.'
The second reason is the dominant sub variant of Omicon, BA.2, has accounted for 70-80 per cent of all cases presently and is much more transmissible.
Professor Esterman said a full return of the draconian health measures was not necessary, and only recommended enforcing mask mandates in retail and transport settings.
Covid case numbers remain high across the country, driven by a rise in infections from an Omicron sub-variant.
It comes as restrictions eased across three states on Thursday, despite the recent rise in national cases.
On Thursday, there were nearly 60,000 new infections nationwide, reaching levels experienced during the Omicron wave in summer.
Of those, more than 22,000 were in NSW, 11,292 in Victoria, 9727 in Western Australia, 7289 in Queensland, 5061 in South Australis, 2478 in Tasmania, 1194 in the ACT and 526 in the Northern Territory.
There were a further 32 deaths reported by state and territory health authorities, with more than half of those being in NSW.
Meanwhile, Queensland, SA and WA have eased back some of their restrictions.
Recently recovered cases in Queensland will now be considered as 'cleared cases', and won't have to undergo isolation if they are a close contact or experience symptoms for 12 weeks.
Vaccine mandates have been removed in SA for certain industries such as education and transport.
Capacity limits on venues in WA have also been increased, as the state experiences some of its highest daily infections.
It comes as the vaccine rollout nationally passed another milestone, with more than 80 per cent of 12 to 15-year-olds being fully vaccinated.
Those in the 12-15 age group are not yet eligible to receive a booster dose, with third doses only available to those 16 and over.
However, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation is considering data from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer to allow a third dose to be approved for 12- to 15-year-olds.
The expert panel is reviewing data on epidemiology, serious illness and its use in the age group overseas.”
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