Currently, Australia has over 2,800 confirmed cases of coronavirus – by the time we wake up tomorrow that could be 3,000.
Australia’s coronavirus growth curve
Just two weeks ago before our world as we know it here in Perth and Australia went sideways – Australia had 199 confirmed cases. One week later from there Australia had 928. Now One week on from there we will have 3,000.
Percentage increase:
Over those last two weeks, we have seen significant increases in confirmed cases:
- 13/3 to 20/3: 366%
- 20/3 to 27/3: 223%
Even more alarming is that tomorrow morning worldwide there could be 500,000 confirmed cases – as we currently sit at 488,000.
Watch: Visualise the outbreak worldwide in one minute (as of March 19)
Australia in shutdown
While Australia is not in a shutdown or talking about a complete shutdown like our neighour New Zealand, strict social distancing measures and closures of businesses likely to encourage gatherings continue to be enforced by both federal and local governments.
While Australia is continuing to see spikes in confirmed cases – what we are unsure of yet is how much community spreading has occurred? Has significant damage already been done? Will this strict measure slow down the ‘curve’ or will Australia continue to follow trends of other nations who didn’t engage complete shutdowns until too late?
Once the UK hit 3,000 – within two days they were over 5,000. Two days after that 6,500. After one week of hitting 3,000 the UK had reached over 9,500.
While Australia isn’t as densely populated as the UK and other European cities – we are still following the same growth curve as them – suggesting we are headed for a significant increase – just perhaps not at their totals given our population – but still the same impact on life and economy none the less.
More coronavirus coverage on SoPerth.com.au:
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- What Does It Mean To Go Into Isolation?
Watch: TEDx – My Wish: Help me stop pandemics
TED Prize winner Larry Brilliant has spent his career solving the ills of today — from overseeing the last smallpox cases to saving millions from blindness — and building technologies of the future. Now, as Chair of the Skoll Global Threats Fund, he’s redefining how we solve the world’s biggest problems.