coronavirus,

Victoria's chief health officer says the peak of the coronavirus outbreak is still months away and warns people in society are a 50-50 chance of contracting the virus. Speaking on radio on Tuesday morning, Dr Brett Sutton said the "entire population" was in danger of being exposed. He said the outbreak could peak in May, June or July and warned the current situation in Australia was only the beginning. READ MORE | Coronavirus: Ten reasons why you ought not to panic However, he also believed it would be gone before Christmas. It is also worth noting that only an extremely small amount of people who contract the disease actually die. According to the World Health Organisation, illness due to COVID-19 infection is generally mild, especially for children and young adults. However, it can cause serious illness: about 1 in every 5 people who catch it need hospital care. READ MORE | Worried about your children getting coronavirus? What you should know In Australia there has been 93 cases and three deaths, aged 95, 82 and 78. "I think that the entire population will have a 50-50 chance of getting it," Dr Sutton told 3AW. "As each day passes that will increase and people need to start making plans for not having those social or other meetings or conferences or gatherings planned into the next couple of months. "We are aware of what it looks like if it's not mitigated and the main measures that we'll need are the social distancing measures - that includes people staying away if they're unwell and quarantining themselves. "But it also includes all of those things about making space between people - whether it is cancelling public gatherings or staggering public transport or taking measures in schools for extended school holidays or school closures." Dr Sutton predicted the virus would all-but disappear by the end of the year, although it had potential to occur seasonally at low levels. "It's a virus that might actually stick around in low levels after all of this and even come back seasonally, not to the extent a pandemic will." Have you signed up to The Courier's variety of news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.

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