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The last week of covid-19 cases in Australia. 5 of 8 states and territories saw 0 new cases, in total. Source: https://www.covid19data.com.au/
The worst single day was 15 cases, in total.
Australia's population is, BTW, 25 million.
The worst single day was 15 cases, in total.
Australia's population is, BTW, 25 million.
There is, however, still community transmission (orange in this graph):
The testing numbers are astonishing. At its worst, Australia had 30 negatives for each positive. Now at roughly 250 : 1.
By contrast, the US was 6 : 1 until the last few weeks, now more like 15 : 1.
Perhaps related: the CFR in Australia is about 1.4%. It's about 6% in the US
By contrast, the US was 6 : 1 until the last few weeks, now more like 15 : 1.
Perhaps related: the CFR in Australia is about 1.4%. It's about 6% in the US
I mention all this mostly because of the relative lack of attention the media in many countries have paid to successes elsewhere. No constant drumbeat of "Australia / South Korea / Taiwan / etc did A, B, C, what can we learn?"
When it's said, you hear lots of excuse-making for why those other examples aren't relevant. Of course, it's worth being somewhat skeptical, but the explanations are often very flimsy. One I've heard repeatedly: "but Australia is an island".
True enough. But China is by far Australia's largest trade partner, & Chinese immigrants make up a far larger proportion of Australia's population than (eg) the US. Traffic between the two countries is enormous, enough to make me strongly doubt the island nature much helps.
There's an old joke: "Smart people learn from the mistakes of others. Brilliant people learn from their own mistakes. Geniuses convince others to make mistakes so they may study the effects."
It'd be nice to aspire to category 1, at least.
It'd be nice to aspire to category 1, at least.
