Flattening the curve

  As we slowly transition back to something approximating normality, it is worth getting some perspective on our response to the epidemic. Here are some graphs I found rather shocking...the Australian Health authorities got it right compared to other countries. 

To pick two examples, cumulative deaths from COVID-19 per million for both the UK is now 144,000 and the US is over 774,000. Australia has had less than 2000 deaths. But, to allow for those countries' large populations, I have chosen to graph the deaths per million.

The second graph shows the "Total Excess Deaths" per million...that is the difference between the normal death rate in a period and the deaths during the pandemic times. Unlike the US or UK the Australian deaths, at times, actually fell.

Australia "flattened the curve".

 

For an interesting Twitter thread based on the same COVID-19 dataset see Edouard Mathieu