COVID-19, Australia: Epidemiology Report 20. Fortnightly reporting period ending 5 July 2020

Abstract

Notified cases of COVID-19 and associated deaths reported to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) to 5 July 2020. Cumulative confirmed cases in Australia notified up to 5 July 2020: notifications = 8,566, deaths = 106. Over the past fortnightly reporting period (22 June to 5 July), 897 cases were notified, with 4 deaths. The national incidence of COVID-19 remained low, with very few cases reported by most jurisdictions in this reporting period. The majority of the current cases reported over this fortnight are from Victoria, with an increasing number and proportion of cases reported as being locally acquired. Total case numbers have increased with an average of 54 cases reported on any one day, more than twice the average number reported in the previous reporting period. The number and proportion of deaths associated with COVID-19 remains low and it appears that vulnerable populations have not been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 overall. Testing rates continue to be high across all jurisdictions, with the nationwide positivity rate remaining very low at less than 0.3%. In this reporting period, the number of cases reported nationally has increased from 214 (8 June to 21 June) to 897 (22 June to 5 July). Of the cases notified in this reporting period, 87% (781 cases) were notified from Victoria and 89% of these cases were acquired locally. Of the remaining 116 cases reported from other jurisdictions only 6% were locally acquired. The increase in Victoria is attributable to multiple epidemiologically linked outbreaks across a range of settings and locations. A small proportion of cases have experienced severe disease, requiring hospitalisation or intensive care, with some fatalities. The crude case fatality rate amongst Australian cases is 1.2%. People who are older and have one or more comorbidities are more likely to experience severe disease.