Expert: Up to half a million Australians infected with COVID

Staff check a client at a drive-through COVID-19 testing clinic at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia on Jan 8, 2022. (MARK BAKER / AP)

CANBERRA / MANILA / YANGON / SINGAPORE / HANOI – A leading infectious diseases expert has predicted that up to 500,000 Australians are currently infected with COVID-19.

Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases physician and microbiologist from Australian National University (ANU) and Canberra Hospital, on Wednesday warned that up to 2 percent of the country's population were likely to have coronavirus.

The latest data from the Department of Health revealed that there were more than 14,000 infections reported per day in the week to Nov. 29 but Collignon said the actual number of cases was likely much higher.

"I would think one or two percent of people have probably got COVID at this point in time, which is a lot, but the vast majority are reinfections now. Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions and ICU ventilations are nowhere near what it was earlier this year," he told News Corp Australia.

In mid-October, there was a weekly average of 170.3 new coronavirus cases in Australia per 1 million people. By late November the figure had increased to 554.1 cases per million people.

According to the Department of Health, Australia's fourth wave of infections is spreading at a more gradual rate than previously expected.

A health worker gives the first-time dose of COVID-19 vaccine to a woman, part of the 65 years and older tier, in a school being used as a vaccination site in Yangon, Myanmar on Feb 5, 2021. (STR / AFP)

Myanmar

Myanmar has confirmed 17 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total tally to 633,341, the country's Ministry of Health said on Tuesday.

The ministry said in a statement that the death toll from COVID-19 in the country remained unchanged at 19,488 on Tuesday as no new deaths were reported.

A man shops for face masks in Divisoria, a local shopping district in Manila on May 17, 2022. (JAM STA ROSA / AFP)

Philippines

The Philippines reported 883 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 4,042,936.

The Department of Health said the number of active cases dropped to 17,481, while 20 more patients died from COVID-19 complications, taking the country's death toll to 64,770.

Metro Manila, the capital region with over 13 million people, tallied 315 new cases.

A notice warning people not to gather in groups larger than five persons as part of restrictions to hald the spread of the coronavirus is displayed at Raffles Place financial business district in Singapore on Jan 4, 2022. (ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)

Singapore

Singapore reported 1,817 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the total tally to 2,174,989.

A total of 132 cases are currently warded in hospitals, with eight of them held in intensive care units, according to statistics released by the country's Ministry of Health.

No new deaths from COVID-19 were reported on Tuesday, leaving the total death toll unchanged at 1,706.

A man passes walks past a billboard on the coronavirus in Ho Chi Minh City on Dec 4, 2021. (NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)

Vietnam

Vietnam recorded 362 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, down 65 from Monday, according to the country's Ministry of Health.

All the new cases were locally transmitted, said the ministry.

The new infections brought the total tally to 11,518,511. The Southeast Asian country reported a new death from the pandemic in the southern province of Tay Ninh on Tuesday, lifting the total fatalities to 43,178.