Australia may have hugely under-reported active cases of COVID-19 during the Omicron wave

More than one in five Australians aged 18 and older had caught COVID-19 by February, according to recent research that showed the number of incidents which were circulating during the Omicron wave had been severely undercounted.

The largest percentage of people with COVID-19 antibodies, a marker of prior coronavirus infection, was found in Queensland (26%), followed by Victoria (23%) and New South Wales with 21%, utilizing 5185 specimens from Australian blood donations of people aged 18 to 89.

Most of these illnesses are thought to have happened during the Omicron wave, which began in December 2021 and swept over the eastern states, causing mass lockdowns in the country's largest cities.

According to the study results, the ratio of infected Australians by February end as much as two times the reported figure. Past infection evidence was the highest among Australians between 18-29 at 27.2% and this rate declined with an increase in age to 6.4% for donors of the age group 70-89.

Antibody positivity for blood donors has been consistent with the pattern of reported incidents to February end with Victoria, New South Wales, as well as Queensland experiencing big outbreaks, & Western Australia experiencing community transmission that was quite limited.

Blood donors in the young group had the greatest rate of infection, which corresponded to the number of reported cases in this age range.

Coronavirus cases throughout Australia are now estimated to reach 7.7 million, according to the most recent data from the federal government.

More than 9268 Australians have died as a result of the illness.

In the most recent national assessment, health officials estimate that there are approximately 208,000 active cases in the community, with more than 30,000 new cases added in the recent update.