Originally Posted by
slats11
This well written NYT may help
https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www....erica.amp.html
So we don’t really know how many flu deaths a year - as most of those who are presumed to have died from a flu-related illness don’t get tested and are not reported in official figures.
We don’t know how many cases of COVID there have been in Australia - it likely lies between 70,000 (smh report yesterday) and 500,000 (NSW CHO estimate back in July). Either way, we have missed most infections.
It’s all a bit of a mess, but it is what it is. Things are not black or white. Biological systems are not aircraft, and public health is not CASA.
But for months many MANY tests have been taken with or without symptoms - it does not seem to be floating around in the back ground unnoticed. Certainly not in the estimated numbers you gave since we have taken around 7,200,000 tests to date = to around 27,000 positive cases.
Given lots of work places and sports groups have had mandatory testing since about the start - little to no (not aware of a single one) random cases have popped up.
But that is just my reasoning for not believing the estimates.