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Australia's Response to COVID-19

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2021

Anika Stobart Open the ORCID record for Anika Stobart [Opens in a new window]  and
Stephen Duckett Open the ORCID record for Stephen Duckett [Opens in a new window]
Anika Stobart*
Affiliation:
Grattan Institute, Melbourne, Australia
Stephen Duckett
Affiliation:
Grattan Institute, Melbourne, Australia
*
*Corresponding author. Email: anika.stobart@grattan.edu.au
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Abstract

Australia suffered two waves of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in 2020: the first lasting from February to July 2020 was mainly caused by transmission from international arrivals, the second lasting from July to November was caused by breaches of hotel quarantine which allowed spreading into the community. From a second wave peak in early August of over 700 new cases a day, by November 2020 Australia had effectively eliminated community transmission. Effective elimination was largely maintained in the first half of 2021 using snap lockdowns, while a slow vaccination programme left Australia lagging behind comparable countries. This paper describes the interventions which led to Australia's relative success up to July 2021, and also some of the failures along the way.

Keywords

COVID-19Australiaelimination strategyvaccination
Type
Article
Information
Health Economics, Policy and Law , Volume 17 , Special Issue 1: SPECIAL ISSUE: Country Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic , January 2022 , pp. 95 - 106
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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