Coronavirus is not just an old person's virus


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Jul 26 2020 10 mins   2k
We often hear that coronavirus doesn't discriminate when it comes to age, but after infection it does tend to get deadlier as patients get older. So while COVID-19 does kill more elderly people, youth is not a guarantee that you'll sail through with mild symptoms and no problems. Over the weekend, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews reminded Victorians that currently two children and eight people under the age of 30 were in hospital with COVID-19. So why are the numbers of young people in hospital growing? On today's show: * How many younger patients are currently in hospital in Victoria? * If you get the virus as a younger person, what long-term damage might there be? * As some of the candidate vaccines go into phase 3 trials, aren't there ethical issues by giving people a placebo and not the vaccine? * Norman has said the key to coronavirus in WA is testing, so what symptoms should be the trigger to get tested? And Norman has some research from the journal Science about undocumented cases of coronavirus, and how it might explain what's going on in Victoria.