The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Australia – history and potential lessons

Abstract

This paper maps out the Australian experience with COVID-19 infection from late January 2020, when the first cases appeared in passengers travelling from Wuhan, Guandong, China, through to mid May 2020, at the time of preparing the paper. It outlines the evolution of cases from 9 cases at the end of January to almost 7,000 cases by mid-May, of which 90% had recovered, 0.24% were in Intensive Care, 0.7% were in hospital and more than 900,000 tests had been performed. The paper maps out the Government’s response to COVID-19, the restrictions imposed and the economic stimulus provided, equating to 16.4% of Growth Domestic Product. It also identified the fines to be imposed upon those who ignored the restrictions. By mid-May the emphasis was not on “shutdowns” and restrictions but on a tempered and rational relaxation thereof with an aim to reinvigorate the economy. On 19th March, the Ruby Princess Cruise Ship docked in Sydney, creating the single greatest progenitor of positive cases and deaths associated with coronavirus in Australia, which ultimately resulted in police investigation and a Royal Commission. Other clusters were noted such as Anglicare Newmarch House Aged Care Facility, which also led to 18 deaths due to Coronavirus and together with the Ruby Princess accounted for 40 of the 45 deaths in New South Wales (NSW). The paper also identified other clusters, such as 88 cases associated with Cedar Meats Abattoir in Victoria and the closure of North West Regional Hospital and North West Private hospital in Tasmania. Not everyone respected the lockdown laws and the paper includes some high profile individuals, identified as having broken the rules and incurred heavy penalties, including a NSW Cabinet Minister, who was fined $1,000 AUD plus losing his State Government Cabinet position due to contravention of the Public Health Act. There were 4,500 Australians fined a minimum of $1,000 AUD for breaches of social distancing rules. By mid May 2020, it was apparent that there were definite lessons to be learnt from the Coronavirus Pandemic and the paper maps out some of these while also pointing out that such lessons will continue to emerge from the Pandemic and may well alter the approach to Pandemics into the future.