COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia was a part of the worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first confirmed case in Australia was identified on 25 January 2020, in Victoria, when a man who had returned from Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, tested positive for the virus.[5] As of 6 August 2022, Australia has reported over 11,350,000 cases,[6] over 11,330,000 recoveries, and 19,265 deaths.[3] Victoria's second wave having the highest fatality rate per case.
In March 2020, the Australian government established the intergovernmental National Cabinet and declared a human biosecurity emergency in response to the outbreak. Australian borders were closed to all non-residents on 20 March,[7] and returning residents were required to spend two weeks in supervised quarantine hotels from 27 March.[8] Many individual states and territories also closed their borders to varying degrees, with some remaining closed until late 2020,[9] and continuing to periodically close during localised outbreaks.[10] Social distancing rules were introduced on 21 March, and state governments started to close "non-essential" services.[11][12] "Non-essential services" included social gathering venues such as pubs and clubs but unlike many other countries did not include most business operations such as construction, manufacturing and many retail categories.[13] The number of new cases initially grew sharply, then levelled out at about 350 per day around 22 March, and started falling at the beginning of April to under 20 cases per day by the end of the month.[2]
Australia was one of few countries to pursue a zero-COVID "suppression" strategy until late 2021, meaning it aimed to minimise domestic community transmission. Implementation involved strict controls on international arrivals and aggressively responding to local outbreaks with lockdowns and exhaustive contact tracing of domestic COVID-19 clusters.[14][15][16] A second wave of infections emerged in Victoria during May and June 2020, which was attributed to an outbreak at a Melbourne quarantine hotel. The second wave, though largely localised to Melbourne, was much more widespread and deadlier than the first; at its peak, the state had over 7,000 active cases.[17] Victoria underwent a second strict lockdown which eventually lasted almost four months.[18] The wave ended with zero new cases being recorded on 26 October 2020.[19][20][21] No deaths from COVID-19 were recorded in Australia from 28 December 2020 until 13 April 2021, when one death occurred in Queensland.[2]
The nationwide vaccination program began with the first doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine being administered in Sydney on 21 February 2021.[22][23] The country's vaccine rollout, which fell short of its initial targets and was described as slow, was criticised.[24][25] Further cluster outbreaks occurred in late 2020 and mid-2021, with several brief "snap lockdowns" announced in certain states to contain their spread, particularly as novel variants of SARS-CoV-2 arrived in Australia.
In July 2021, the Australian government after continually stating COVID-zero was not sustainable, published the 'National Plan' to live with COVID.[26] As outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant which started in June 2021 in New South Wales spread, almost half of Australia's population and most major cities were in lockdown for at least 3 days during July 2021.[27][16] The outbreak worsened in New South Wales and spread to Victoria in the following weeks causing new record daily cases in both stated later in 2021.[28][29] Lockdowns were phased out after 70% of the population was vaccinated in October with most public health restrictions removed after vaccinating 90% of its population in December 2021, as the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant drove further records of infections.[30][31] International travel began to resume in November 2021 and returned to normal in early 2022. The government declared the emergency response finished in September 2022 and removed all restrictions including the requirement to isolate if one was infected.[32]
Background
A novel coronavirus that caused a respiratory illness was identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019, and was reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on 31 December 2019, which confirmed its concern on 12 January 2020.[33][34] WHO declared the outbreak a Public health emergency of international concern on 30 January,[35] and a pandemic on 11 March.[36]
The case fatality rate of COVID-19 is much lower than that of SARS, a related disease which emerged in 2002,[37][38] but its transmission has been significantly greater, leading to a much greater total death toll.[37][39]
The widespread reporting of the bushfire season in major media and social media around the world caused a significant drop in the number of tourists coming to Australia, including those from China. The absence of tourist arrivals during this time could have played a significant role in sparing Australia from the spread of COVID-19 in the early stages of the pandemic. This is in contrast to other major cities in Europe and North America, where the early spread of the virus continued undetected until late February 2020 or early March 2020.[40]
Post pandemic
In the winter of 2023, for the first time since before the pandemic, other viral diseases such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus were more prevalent in the community and hospitals.[298] Queensland as a result, dropped its traffic light system which had been on green and not recommending mask wearing anywhere for several months.[93] Cost of living pressures and the fatigue caused by the pandemic were blamed on low influenza vaccination uptake in 2023.[299]
Impacts
Arts
Before the crisis, 600,000 Australians were employed in the arts, an industry which added around A$3.2 billion to export revenues. The rate of employment in the sector grew at a faster rate than the rest of the economy.[300] According to government figures, "cultural and creative activity contributed to A$112 billion (6.4% of GDP) to Australia's economy in 2016–17".[301]
Beginning in the second week of March 2020, Australian institutions began announcing reduced services, and then complete closures.[302] One of the first casualties was the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, with organisers announcing on 13 March 2020 that the 2020 festival had been cancelled entirely.[303] Opera Australia announced it would close on 15 March.[304] The national closure of all cultural institutions was mandated on 24 March, with subsequent restrictions on public gatherings. Consequently, many cultural events were also cancelled, including the Sydney Writers' Festival.[305] According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, by the beginning of April, "Arts and Recreation services" was the sector of the national economy with the smallest proportion of its business still in operation—at 47%.[306] A graph in Guardian Australia showing businesses by sector that had ceased trading between June 2019 and 30 March 2020 shows over 50% of arts and recreation services, the hardest hit of any sector (information media and telecommunications is next, at about 34%).[307] Adrian Collette, CEO of the Australia Council for the Arts, the government's arts funding and advisory body, described the impact on the cultural and creative sectors as "catastrophic".[308]
The Australian film industry has been severely impacted, with at least 60 shoots being halted and about 20,000 people out of work.[309] On Monday 23 March, all productions funded by Screen Australia were postponed.[310] As of 15 April 2020, after some improvement in COVID-19 statistics in Australia, Screen Australia continues to fund work and process applications, intending to use all of its 2019–20 budget.[311] Film industry organisations such as Screen Producers Australia (SPA) and the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) have been lobbying the government for a support package specific to the screen industry, and to expand the JobKeeper requirements so that those in the screen industry are better covered. Many in the film industry are employed by Special-purpose entities—temporary companies that cease trading once production has finished—which cannot easily prove that their turnover has fallen by 30% or more.[312] SPA said that the industry shutdown had cost more than A$500 million, with about A$20 million of lost export revenue.[313]
One hundred and nineteen films and TV shows have been halted, with only a few shows (such as MasterChef Australia and Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell) continuing production through the pandemic. The TV soap Neighbours was the first English-language TV drama series in the world to announce that resumption of production would begin soon after 20 April 2020.[313]
Like other governments around the world, the Australian government has acknowledged the economic, cultural and social value of the arts industry.[300][301] The Australia Council has redirected about A$5 million to "new programs designed to provide immediate relief to Australian artists, arts workers and arts organisations to support their livelihoods, practice and operations during the COVID-19 pandemic" (the "Resilience Fund"[314]), and is also hosting weekly meetings to address the concerns of specific sections of the industry, such as Indigenous creatives and organisations, live performance and public gatherings, and various peak bodies.[308] Several state governments have also provided relief packages.[300]
In early April, the federal government announced a package of A$27 million in specific arts funding: A$7 million for the Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support program, A$10 million for Regional Arts Australia's regional arts fund, and A$10 million for Support Act,[315] a charity founded in 1997[316] that provides financial support and counselling to people in the music industry in Australia.[315] However, the "JobKeeper" scheme specifically excluded "freelancers and casuals on short-term contracts, or who have worked for a series of employers in the last year", thus excluding a large proportion of arts and cultural sector professionals, who rely on short-term contracts.[306][317][318]
However, most of the arts sector's more than 193,000 workers were still unable to access the JobKeeper payments, despite being defined as sole traders, and an estimated A$330 million worth of paid performances cancelled. The Australia Institute recommended a A$750 million rescue package for the industry, while Arts Minister Paul Fletcher said that arts workers should utilise existing support measures.[319]
On 4 May 2020, the company operating the Carriageworks multi-arts venue in Sydney declared it would be entering voluntary administration and closing, citing an "irreparable loss of income" due to government bans on events during the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent negative impact on the arts sector.[320][321] Carriageworks was the first major arts venue in the country to collapse suddenly after the hit to income caused by the strict social distancing rules enforced by state and federal governments, but others feared the same fate, after being forced to shut their doors in late March.[322]
On 13 May 2020, the Art Gallery of South Australia announced that it would reopen on 8 June.[323]
On 24 June 2020, the federal government announced a $250 million rescue package for the arts, comprising grants and loans. The package includes $75m for a grants program for new festivals, concerts, tours and events; $90m in loans to help fund new productions; $50m to help film and television producers unable to access insurance due to the pandemic, to enable them to restart production; and $35 million in direct financial assistance for struggling Commonwealth-funded organisations, including theatre, dance, music and circus. The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) welcomed the boost, but critics said that it was not nearly enough, especially with so many workers in the industry still ineligible for JobKeeper payments.[324][325]
Travel restrictions
On 2 October 2020, Prime Minister Morrison announced that the Australian Government had formalised a deal allowing New Zealanders "one-way quarantine-free travel" into New South Wales and the Northern Territory from 16 October as part of initial steps to establish a "travel bubble" between the two countries. However, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has ruled out extending reciprocal "quarantine-free travel" for Australians in order to contain the spread of COVID-19 into New Zealand.[449][450]
On 17 October 2020, Stuff reported that 17 New Zealanders who had entered New South Wales traveled to Melbourne despite Victoria not being a party to the travel bubble arrangement with New Zealand. The Victorian Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the arrival of the group but stated that it did not have the authority to detain them.[451] In response, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews threatened to close his state's borders unless the Australian Federal Government blocked travellers using the Trans-Tasman bubble from traveling to Victoria. The Federal Government has disagreed with the Victorian Government's stance. In addition, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced that her government would not prevent New Zealand passengers from travelling to Victoria.[452]
On 11 December 2020, the Premier of Queensland Annastacia Palaszczuk announced that her state would open its borders to travelers from New Zealand from 1:00 am the following day (12 December), exempting them from quarantine restrictions.[453]
On 14 December 2020, the New Zealand Prime Minister Ardern announced that the New Zealand Government had approved plans to establish a quarantine free travel bubble with Australia in the first quarter of 2021. Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt welcomed the move, describing it as the "first step" in normalising international travel and reiterated the Australian Government's support for measures to establish the travel bubble.[454][455]
On 25 January 2021, the Federal government immediately suspended the ability of New Zealanders to travel to Australia that they had since 16 October 2020, without quarantining, for at least 72 hours. This followed the discovery of a NZ resident with the SARS-CoV-2 Beta variant. The woman was not known to be infectious, having twice tested negative to COVID-19 before leaving quarantine, then visited many places in northern NZ, but she was then found to have the new strain.[456]
On 19 April 2021, Australians were allowed quarantine-free travel to New Zealand for the first time in more than a year. To fly under the bubble's rules, passengers must have spent 14 days before departure in either Australia or New Zealand; however, they are not required to spend the full 14-day period or more in the other country, i.e. a person has spent at least 14 days in Australia, flies to New Zealand and returns to Australia after 7 days.[457] They must not be awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test, nor have any COVID-19 symptoms, amongst other criteria.[458]
Geo-tracking app
In late August 2021, the state of South Australia launched an app with facial recognition software that Australians subject to mandatory 14-day quarantines could opt to use in lieu of being quarantined at a hotel under police guard.[459] The app randomly prompted users to take a picture of their face and submit geo-location data within 15 minutes of the prompt to prove to the South Australian government that the user was in an approved location.[460] Users who refuse to comply or who fail to respond to a prompt within 15 minutes are checked on by local police and may be subject to fines.[459][460][461]
Demand for investigation
On 19 April 2020, Australia questioned China's handling of the pandemic, questioned the transparency of its disclosures, and demanded an international investigation into the origins of the virus and its spread.[462] The Chinese Ambassador Cheng Jingye, in a rare breach of diplomatic protocol, leaked details of his telephone conversation with Frances Adamson, Secretary of Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on the embassy website.[463] He warned that the demand for an inquiry could result in a consumer boycott of students and tourists visiting Australia, and could affect sales of major exports.[464] A trade dispute involving improperly labelled beef and barley dumping ensued, which seriously affected Australian exports.[465] On 26 August 2020, China's deputy ambassador to Australia, Wang Xining, expressed that Australia's co-proposal for an independent investigation into the causes of the pandemic "hurts the feelings of the Chinese people" during his address to the National Press Club of Australia.[466][467]
Numerous events in 2020 and 2021 were cancelled, rescheduled, postponed, reduced in size, or had their location changed. Some went to an online or streaming format. In 2021, events such as Skyfire, regional agricultural shows, and music festivals (Byron Bay Bluesfest and Groovin' the Moo)[468][469] were cancelled for the second year. By 16 January 2021, twenty regional town shows scheduled for January or February 2021 had been postponed or cancelled in New South Wales alone.[470] Many subsequent events were cancelled deep into 2021 and even into early 2022, especially as the new Omicron variant posed new risks.[471]