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Australian flu deaths in 2020 plunge by a THIRD on average as a result of Covid social distancing measures
- Australia recorded 1,846 influenza, pneumonia deaths from January to October
- This marked a 36 per cent fall from the 2,885 fatality average from 2015 to 2019
- Flu deaths plunge was even more dramatic than fall in respiratory illness deaths
Australia flu deaths in 2020 have plunged by more than a third as a result of coronavirus social distancing measures.
Between January 1 and October 27 of this year, 1,846 people died of either influenza or pneumonia, new Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed.
This marked a 36 per cent plunge from the 2,885 deaths of the same underlying cause when weekly disease fatalities data was added up.
The plunge in flu deaths was even more dramatic than the 18 per cent plummet in respiratory illnesses, a broader category which includes influenza, pneumonia, emphysema and chronic bronchitis but not COVID-19.
Australia flu deaths in 2020 have plunged by more than a third as a result of coronavirus social distancing measures. Pictured is a stock image
While coronavirus social distancing measures came into force in March, the flu death rate drop was particularly pronounced from the end of August, coinciding with the conclusion of winter and the traditional influenza season.
During the first week of September, 30 people died of the flu or pneumonia in 2020 compared with the 2015 to 2019 average of 121.
The influenza death rate this year, during the start of spring, was a quarter of the four-year average.
Before 2020, death rates for influenza and pneumonia were in the triple digits on average for seven weeks of August and September.
From the start of January until the end of October, there were 9,977 respiratory illness deaths, compared with the average death rate of 12,161 between 2015 and 2019.
Since January 908 people have died of coronavirus in Australia, with Victoria home to 90.3 per cent or 820 of the deaths as a result of a hotel quarantining failure in Melbourne.
The 36 per cent plunge in influenza and pneumonia deaths occurred as Covid social distancing measures caused a sharp drop in winter deaths. Pictured is Manly on Sydney’s Northern Beaches locked down on December 21, 2020
New South Wales, the latest Covid epicentre, recorded just eight new cases of coronavirus as Tuesday, raising hopes an outbreak in Sydney is being contained.
Seven cases are linked to a cluster from the Northern Beaches, which now stands at 90, and one is a healthcare worker from western Sydney who is not linked to the outbreak.
The healthcare worker transported a symptomatic family of three on 14 December after they returned from the US and went into hotel quarantine – and has also transported patients between hospitals, homes and care facilities.
