Scientists have produced evidence that the pandemic virus is 'uniquely adapted to infect humans', raising fresh questions over whether its origins were natural or could have occurred in a laboratory.
Where did the Coronavirus 19 Originate from? and anything relative to the virus.
Where did the Coronavirus 19 originate from? and anything relative to the virus.
Coronavirus is 'uniquely adapted to infect humans': Top vaccine scientist says it could only have come from an animal through a 'freak of nature' - and the possibility it leaked from Wuhan lab MUST be investigated
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There are concerns Australia is facing a surge in long COVID cases, which could have serious and lasting impacts on the community and put further strain on hospitals.
Researchers investigating the illness in Australia say five per cent of people who get COVID-19 could develop the condition.
That means of the nine million Australians who've had the virus since the start of the pandemic, more than 450,000 would develop long COVID.
Those symptoms could follow immediately on from the initial illness, or relapse over time.
Health experts say it's more important than ever, if you haven't had COVID-19, do everything you can to avoid it.
The ongoing study, co-led by the Kirby Institute and National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance in collaboration with Lifeblood, surveys blood samples to detect antibodies to the virus.
The authors have explained antibodies are most likely to be found if the person's infection was in the past three to six months.
The latest results have suggested at least 46 per cent of adults had been infected with COVID-19 in 2022. The data indicates almost triple the number of Australians who had COVID-19 by late February had experienced it by early June.
The previous results from the study, which measured blood samples up until late February, estimated that only around 17 per cent of the Australian population had been recently infected.
Study author Dr Dorothy Machalek said the study was much more likely to be more indicative of the actual rate of COVID-19 infections compared to COVID-19 testing data.
"While we know there is a lot of virus circulating in the community, we can't rely on testing data alone to understand how many people have been infected, as some may experience only mild symptoms, or none at all, and they may not always have a test to detect the virus," she said. 
Australia/New Zealand COVID-19 update 19 July 2022
Australia wide — 50,258 new cases; 348,018 active cases; 5,110 in hospital; 158 in ICU; 79 deaths.
• NSW: 13,544 new cases, 141,747 active cases, 2,205 in hospital, 60 in ICU, 26 deaths.
• VIC: 12,201 new cases, 65,416 active cases, 897 in hospital, 34 in ICU, 25 deaths.
• QLD: 9,992 new cases, 54,272 active cases, 983 in hospital, 24 in ICU, 18 deaths.
• ACT: 1,221 new cases, 6,801 active cases, 170 in hospital, 6 in ICU.
• TAS: 1,642 new cases, 10,111 active cases, 55 in hospital, 2 in ICU, 4 deaths.
• SA: 4,172 new cases, 29,845 active cases, 282 in hospital, 11 in ICU, 3 deaths.
• WA: 6,815 new cases, 36,491 active cases, 455 in hospital, 20 in ICU, 3 deaths.
• NT: 671 new cases, 3,335 active cases, 63 in hospital, 1 in ICU.
• NEW ZEALAND: 10,772 new cases, 66,653 active cases, 788 in hospital, 20 in ICU, 21 deaths.