Australia could stop recording daily Covid fatalities as the country moves into a new phase of the pandemic.
On Wednesday, Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly announced the ‘time is right’ for the country to shift to a new concept dubbed ‘excess deaths’.
Prof. Kelly explained this was the difference between the number of people that were expected to die over a period of time, in an event such as a global pandemic and the actual number of deaths recorded.
‘On this metric, Australia has performed extremely well throughout the Covid-19 pandemic,’ Professor Kelly told a Senate estimates hearing.
Australia could soon move away from recording daily Covid deaths as the country heralds a new phase of the pandemic (pictured, a pedestrian walks in Sydney on Friday)
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly on Wednesday announced the ‘time is right’ for the country to shift to a new concept dubbed ‘excess deaths’ during a senate estimates on Wednesday
‘Although every death from Covid-19 is a sad event for family and friends and as a country, this is an outcome we should acknowledge.’
Former chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth took to Twitter to applaud the decision and reflect on the country’s response to the virus.
‘Today, the Chief Medical Officer of Australia indicated it was time to stop reporting daily COVID deaths,’ he tweeted on Wednesday afternoon.
He said the chief medical officer had quoted the medical journal Lancet that noted Australia is one of only five countries to record a ‘negative excess mortality rate’ – fewer deaths than they would normally have recorded.
One of the reasons Australia and New Zealand have reported negative excess mortality is due to the high vaccination rate.
‘Thanks Paul for your leadership on this,’ Dr Coatsworth continued.
‘Whilst individual deaths from COVID are terribly sad for friends and family, the national response can be thought of as an overall success compared to other nations.
‘Both can be true. In short, we have got the balance as right as we could have done.’
Australia has reported 6,462 Covid deaths, with the large bulk of these coming from Victoria (2,766), NSW (2,489) and Queensland (756).
In the United States, 1,010,028 people have died while the United Kingdom has reported 166,148 Covid fatalities. New Zealand has reported 404 deaths.
Globally, 6,186,273 have died with the virus.
Prof. Kelly said be believed the country was well placed to handle any new variants that may emerge in coming months.
‘While there may be challenges ahead, I see no reason why, even with the easing of restrictions, the strong position in Australia will not likely change over the winter months,’ he said during the estimates hearing on Wednesday.
While the chief medical officer said the threat of a new variant was a possibility, Australia would be prepared to handle the situation.
‘Work is well under way in all states and territories … to prepare our healthcare system for the likely co-circulation of Covid-19 and influenza,’ he said.
Last week, Dr Coatsworth took to social media to slam mask mandates for children and hit out at politicians perpetuating fears about the virus.
Australia’s former chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth (pictured) took to Twitter to applaud the decision as well as reflect on the country’s response to the virus
Prof Coatsworth said children are not at risk of becoming seriously ill themselves from Covid-19.
‘You’re not actually protecting the kids themselves because it’s a very, very mild disease in children with or without the vaccine,’ he said.
‘It doesn’t stop them from getting very sick because they don’t get very sick.
‘Yes … there’s lots of cases around. The people who are getting very sick with this are the very frail elderly … in nursing homes. Or the people with severe underlying conditions.
‘There is an overemphasis on the risks posed by Covid in a fully-vaccinated population and an overemphasis on the benefits of masking kids.’
Prof Coatsworth explained how he spent a week working in a hospital recently and struggled with wearing a mask.
‘I have trouble communicating with my patients (while wearing a mask),’ he said.
‘It’s hard for them to hear me, it’s hard for them to know who I am, and if that’s hard for me then I can only conclude that it would be detrimental to kids.’
He said it would be reasonable for people over 70 to keep wearing masks until the Omicron wave subsides. When that happens, he says it should be time to stop counting daily cases.
‘This needs to move beyond cases now. There needs to come a time when we need to stop counting the cases. That’ll probably be when the Omicron curve comes well and truly down.’
Last month, Victorian chief health officer Professor Brett Sutton defended the decision saying it would ‘put downward pressure on transmission’.
Meanwhile, Premier Dan Andrews added the decision was made because vaccination rates in kids aged 5-11 were slow compared to the rest of the population.
Australia has reported 6,462 Covid deaths, with the large bulk of these coming from Victoria (2,766), NSW (2,489) and Queensland (756) (pictured, residents in Sydney on Friday)
