Global coronavirus cases could actually be 'five to 10 times' higher
The world’s coronavirus total could be five to 10 times higher than has actually been reported, according to one of Australia’s top doctors.
Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy appeared alongside Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday, acknowledging the number of cases worldwide has passed one million.
According to John Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center, there have been more than one million confirmed cases and more than 53,000 deaths worldwide.
But Professor Murphy believes that the confirmed number of cases is much higher than the figure being reported.
“We believe that the true number is probably five or ten times as much as that, because we know that judging by the death rate, the testing rate, in many countries they’re not detecting all the cases,” he told reporters.
“There are some countries that don’t have the capacity to test.”
When asked if he didn’t trust certain numbers from countries he replied: “I think the only numbers I have total faith in are the Australian numbers, frankly.”
He was also asked if he trusted numbers reported in China, which currently stands at more than 82,000 confirmed.
“I think China is in a really difficult position,” Professor Murphy said.
“They did clamp down incredibly hard and they stopped transmission but their population is not immune. They still have a lot of people in their population and they are, obviously, trying very hard to prevent second waves.”
He added he believes China has been “transparent” and isn’t confident in the US’s numbers.
“We're on top of our cases but we still have a long way to go,” he said.
As of Friday, Australia has more than 5,000 confirmed cases.
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