This year, 6000 Australians have died from COVID. Is that ‘living’ with it?

COVID-19 has become the leading cause of death in Australia, beating cancer and heart disease. In the two and a half years since the start of the pandemic, there have been nearly 8400 deaths — more than 6000 this year alone. Of the deaths, about 90% of people died from COVID-19 as opposed to with the virus. In the first two months of 2022, there was a 20% increase in fatalities compared to the historical average and Australia now has one of the highest numbers of infections per capita in the world.

This is astounding for a virus that didn’t exist three years ago.

But not all deaths are equal: the virus is claiming the lives of Australia’s marginalised — the elderly, those born overseas, living in disadvantaged regions, and living with disabilities make up the bulk of deaths. Perhaps this is why Australia’s appetite for COVID-19 deaths seems to have grown.

People in low socioeconomic groups were disproportionately affected across the pandemic — many work on-site in blue-collar jobs and were more exposed to the virus, with clusters emerging in food-processing facilities. Others had to skip shifts due to infection risk or were locked in housing towers once infections grew.

They’ve been disproportionately affected by deaths, too: people in the lowest socioeconomic group were three times more likely to die from COVID-19 than in the highest group. 

Migrants are some of the healthiest people in Australia, with a lower level of mortality than the Australian population as a whole (migrants are screened for existing health problems when applying for residency in Australia). 

This wasn’t the case for COVID-19. There were 2.5 more deaths per 100,000 people born overseas than those born in Australia. There were 42.4 deaths per 100,000 people for those born in the Middle East, compared with 5.2 per 100,000 people for those born in Australia. 

COVID-19 is also more likely to kill those with disabilities — with officials highlighting “preexisting health conditions” when discussing deaths at the peak of the pandemic (despite about 40% of Australians living with a medically diagnosed health condition). About a third of all people who died from COVID-19 had dementia; 5% had musculoskeletal disorders; and 17.5% had chronic respiratory conditions. There were also high rates of cancer and chronic cardiac conditions among those killed. 

And, as expected, the elderly: there’s been a large drop in the number of elderly people dying from the flu across the pandemic, with more than 4500 fewer flu deaths than expected. Instead, they’ve been affected by COVID-19. The median age for those who died from COVID-19 was 83.9, with almost 2000 COVID-19 deaths occurring in those aged 80 to 89. There were double the amount of deaths for men than for women aged under 80.

With dozens dying from the disease on a daily basis, it seems absurd that deaths didn’t dominate the election cycle. Instead, Australians’ appetite for risk grew as we settled into “living with COVID-19” — and dying from it.