COVID-19
Ten thousand dead and counting
COVID deaths have reached a sobering milestone in Australia and new variants suggest there are more waves of the virus to come.
The number of deaths in Australia from COVID has passed the 10,000 mark.
The first death occurred in March 2020. By August 2021 there had been 1000 deaths. There has been a steep escalation in the number of deaths from COVID in Australia over the last year.
The arrival of the Omicron variant in Australia at the end of 2021 (which coincided with the let-it-rip policy by authorities) saw the death count rise steeply to 5000 deaths in February of this year.
The 10,000-death mark was passed on 3 July.
Prof. Margaret Hellard from the Burnet Institute told a Victorian parliamentary inquiry in June that Australia could record as many as 15,000 COVID deaths in 2022 alone.
Federal health minister Mark Butler says authorities are expecting a further wave of the virus over the next few months from the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants.
“We’ve seen overseas that there is a greater risk of reinfection, so if you have had COVID earlier this year in the first wave over summer, there is a risk that you are open to reinfection,” he said.
“I do encourage you to go out and get that booster – it will provide further protection against the possibility of reinfection with these new subvariants over the coming months.”