Coronavirus: Australia’s most infected group revealed
People in their 20s have more confirmed cases of COVID-19 than any other age group in Australia, according to the federal health department data.
As of Wednesday, 492 individuals aged 25 to 29 have tested positive for the new coronavirus than any other age group, representing 11.37 per cent of all reported cases across the country. It is followed by those aged 20 to 24 with 9.6 per cent and those aged 60 to 64 with 9.3 per cent.
According to Professor Lyn Gilbert, senior researcher from the University of Sydney’s Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, the Australian statistics skewed young because infection and testing had been focused on returned travellers and known contacts.
Gilbert said there is a sentiment among some younger adults that they do not need to take the same precautions.
“Where young people gather in tight groups and socialise, they tend to get infected,” she told The Guardian, referring to the clusters of infections from a March 6 wedding in NSW and backpackers’ movement in Bondi.
“There is a feeling that it doesn’t affect them, they are not going to get sick. And mostly they are not – they won’t get a severe illness. But they pass it on.”
The data came as state governments introduced restrictions on public gatherings and house visits, with penalties ranging from warnings to on-the-spot fines.