The Covid-19 new daily infection rate is the all important number we rely on to help track our success in the fight against the killer virus.
But amid increasing uncertainty and confusion over how the numbers are gathered, the state government has conceded there’s a new reason to doubt their accuracy.
“We’re now using a Powerball machine every day to determine the number,” admits Dr Kerry Chant, the Chief Health Officer for NSW.
She says the state government has been using the new data collection technique since the start of the eastern suburbs outbreak.
“Previously we collected the daily data properly from all the various doctors, hospitals and Covid testing clinics, but it just became too difficult and expensive.”
Kerry Chant says picking the numbers out of a Powerball machine is probably just as accurate.
“The truth is, nobody really knows how many people have the virus at any one time,” she says.
“The extra level of uncertainty we get out of the Powerball machine helps keep everyone on their toes.”
