CANBERRA, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- A report commissioned by the Australian government has found that up to 60,000 coronavirus cases could have gone undetected in the country.
The report estimated that as many as 71,400 Australians could have contracted COVID-19 by July.
At the time, which was before a second wave of infections in Victoria, there had been only 11,190 confirmed cases of the virus in Australia.
The report was funded by the federal government and was compiled by a team of leading experts including Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth.
It contradicts modelling previously released by the government that said Australia's testing regime was diagnosing 93 percent of cases.
Elizabeth Gardiner, head of the cancer department at Australian National University (ANU) and co-author of the study, said the study called into question whether strict lockdown measures to prevent the spread of the virus were necessary.
"We have had more infection than we thought. And hospitals have coped extraordinarily well," she told Nine Entertainment newspapers.
"Should we remain at that level of lockdown? No. I don't think the numbers justify it."
As of Wednesday evening there had been 26,779 cases of COVID-19 officially confirmed in Australia. A total of 53 new cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours.
The death toll has increased by eight to 824 after Australia recorded its first day with zero deaths in over two months on Tuesday.
According to information on the official website of the Health Department, Victoria has confirmed 42 new cases of the virus. New South Wales (NSW) confirmed 10 more cases while Western Australia reported one new case. Enditem
