Letter From Australia: A Never-Ending Pandemic?
Author(s)
Paterson, David L
Rickard, Claire M
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2021
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Australia has faced a trajectory of COVID-19 unlike that seen in other nations. The first Australian cases occurred in January 2020 among tourists from China, yet most regions of Australia then had prolonged periods of almost complete absence of COVID-19 transmission. After 20 months of the pandemic, with a population roughly 10% that of the United States, Australia had a little more than 80 000 infections and 1128 deaths, whereas at the same time, the United States had more than 41 million infections and 666 407 deaths (1). This pattern continued until mid-2021, when major cities experienced transmission of the Delta ...
View more >Australia has faced a trajectory of COVID-19 unlike that seen in other nations. The first Australian cases occurred in January 2020 among tourists from China, yet most regions of Australia then had prolonged periods of almost complete absence of COVID-19 transmission. After 20 months of the pandemic, with a population roughly 10% that of the United States, Australia had a little more than 80 000 infections and 1128 deaths, whereas at the same time, the United States had more than 41 million infections and 666 407 deaths (1). This pattern continued until mid-2021, when major cities experienced transmission of the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant and recent large outbreaks of infection, which may foretell a different future. Of course, “large” in Australia is relative to zero—the current outbreaks in Sydney and Melbourne mean 100 to 1000 cases per day. We reflect on the successes and challenges of Australia's pandemic response and suggest lessons that can be learned.
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View more >Australia has faced a trajectory of COVID-19 unlike that seen in other nations. The first Australian cases occurred in January 2020 among tourists from China, yet most regions of Australia then had prolonged periods of almost complete absence of COVID-19 transmission. After 20 months of the pandemic, with a population roughly 10% that of the United States, Australia had a little more than 80 000 infections and 1128 deaths, whereas at the same time, the United States had more than 41 million infections and 666 407 deaths (1). This pattern continued until mid-2021, when major cities experienced transmission of the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant and recent large outbreaks of infection, which may foretell a different future. Of course, “large” in Australia is relative to zero—the current outbreaks in Sydney and Melbourne mean 100 to 1000 cases per day. We reflect on the successes and challenges of Australia's pandemic response and suggest lessons that can be learned.
View less >
Journal Title
Annals of Internal Medicine
Note
This publication has been entered in Griffith Research Online as an advanced online version.
Subject
Epidemiology