Aussies in closed down “fortress Australia” experienced only a small fraction of the mortality rates of other “western” nations whose mortality rates were 10 to 16 times higher. Aussies deaths rates due to Covid were down to level of common flu in USA!
Today, February 21, 2022, Australia, the only nation which has a whole continent to itself, opened its borders to foreign and domestic tourists after nearly two years (since March 2020) of being closed. Its first incoming Quantas flight with tourists from LA landed early this morning at Sydney airport.
Aside from closing its borders to foreigners (even top tennis players who would not submit to vaccinations), Australians were subjected to one of the world’s toughest lockdowns, space restrictions, mask rules, vaccination mandates, and other government impositions which restricted personal freedoms during the pandemic.
It worked for them. Though Australians experienced high incidences of covid infections at times, particularly with the Omicron variant, their mortality rates were among the lowest in the world.
While covid mortality in western “advanced” nations averaged about 2000 deaths per million population, mortality per million population in Australia was recently reported as only 174 per million. That is close to the USA rate of death due to the common flu (124/mil pop). Based on the fact that Australia has very similar demographics, culture, obesity levels, diabetes incidence, comorbidities, levels of urbanization, medical health care and technological sophistication as other western nations, their outstanding low rate of mortality is very impressive.
It is noteworthy that the UK recently reported 2370 Covid deaths per million population, or nearly 14 times the Aussie death toll, while in the USA the Covid death rate of 2765 per million was 16 times that of the land of Oz. Other western European nations averaged above or close to 2000 deaths per million population or more than ten times the Australian rate.
The Australian experience of closing borders to foreign visitors, masking, and vaccination mandates worked. It may not be over yet, but we should take stock of recent successes and failures at this point. With that in mind, let’s hope that we never have to experience a pandemic like this one again, but if we do…remember that for every one mortality in locked down fortress Australia there were between 10 to 16 unnecessary deaths in the UK and USA and other western nations. In those impacted nations, had their more timid leaders followed the more rigorous Aussie rules, many millions of lives may have been saved.
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