"Good afternoon driver, you've been stopped for the purpose of a Random Covid Test, I now require you to sit still while I ram this cotton swab up your nose".

Random COVID testing will be conducted again this weekend as Queensland health authorities seek to better understand the extent of coronavirus ahead of another potential wave in winter.

The results of a maiden survey project on the Gold Coast revealed yesterday that up to one in six residents have been living with COVID during the peak of the virus in the region.

The survey randomly conducted PCR tests on 117 people on January 22, with 20 testing positive.

Only four of those people reported having any symptoms and only two were aware they had the virus, meaning 90 per cent were unaware they were infected.

A follow-up survey, a week later, performed on 143 random Gold Coast people saw 11 test positive, with six of those reporting symptoms.

Most people in the study with mild or no symptoms were fully vaccinated.

COVID more prevalent than we think

Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said the results showed coronavirus was much more prevalent in the state than test results demonstrated.

"At this stage we still don't know exactly the total number of people… in Queensland that have been infected with the virus," Dr Gerrard said.