Scott Morrison says for some of the Australians who died after being infected with Covid, the virus was not the cause of their death.
The Prime Minister was questioned about the increase in lives lost in relation to Covid this year, with more than 5,000 deaths already.
“We are approaching 6,000 deaths so far this year. Has a decision been made that this is an acceptable number and, if so, what are you doing to stop 50 deaths a day in Australia?” a journalist asked during a press conference in Geelong on Wednesday.
Morrison said every death from the pandemic was a “terrible loss”, adding that he and state and territory leaders had planned for a surge in cases when restrictions began to ease.
The Prime Minister was questioned about the increase in lives lost in relation to Covid this year, with more than 5,000 deaths already (pictured, Covid-infected patient in the ICU of St Vincent’s Hospital)
“What you see when you have case numbers at that level is that people, when they die from many other causes, will die with Covid, and their deaths are recorded as Covid deaths,” he said.
“But that doesn’t necessarily mean… that they died from Covid.”
The virus was listed as the underlying cause of death in the vast majority of deaths, or 96.8 per cent of cases, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data between March 2020 and January 31 this year.
However, about 91.4 percent had other conditions also listed on their death certificate: on average, three other health problems.
The prime minister added that if he was re-elected, Australians would not return to daily press conferences or be under the threat of lockdowns.
“We are living with Covid… I will not drag Australia back to those times,”
Australia has lost more than 7,800 lives to the virus. The average age of deaths is 82 years, about the same as the average life expectancy in Australia, which is 82.90 years.
More than 6.45 million Australians have contracted the virus, and more than five million of them were infected this year alone, according to the Medical Journal of Australia’s InSight publication.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released on Wednesday that of 5,940 virus-related deaths recorded up to April 30, almost 90 per cent (5,335 deaths) had Covid as the underlying cause.
The number of deaths has increased this year with an average of 45 deaths per day.
The number of ABS deaths was obtained from the vital registration system and is not directly comparable with data from the various state and territory health departments.
The Prime Minister said his role was shared by Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly and other health authorities.
He noted that Australia has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world.
“Australia has been one of the most outstanding countries in managing Covid anywhere in the world,” he said.
Victorian Education Minister James Merlino said on Wednesday the state government would assess whether it was necessary to continue providing free rapid antigen tests to schools in the third term.
He said the government would provide schools with free testing until the end of the second semester, although the recommendation to carry out surveillance testing of students twice a week would be lifted after May 27.
Speaking to reporters in Geelong on Wednesday, Morrison said not all Australians who died infected with Covid died from the virus.
The Prime Minister added that if re-elected, Australians would not return to daily press conferences or be under the threat of lockdowns (pictured, shoppers wearing masks in a Sydney supermarket).
Data shows that the vast majority of Covid patients who died from the virus had pre-existing conditions.
Earlier this year, Ben Fordham revealed data showing the vast majority of Covid patients who died from the virus had pre-existing conditions and how coronavirus deaths account for only a very small proportion of all deaths in Australia.
Earlier this year, Ben Fordham shared data that the average Covid victim had three underlying conditions.
The radio host shared how there were 2,639 Covid-related deaths nationwide between March 2020 and January 31 of this year. The virus was listed as the underlying cause of death in the vast majority of deaths, or 96.8 per cent of cases, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
However, about 91.4 percent had other conditions also listed on their death certificate: on average, three other health problems.
Those underlying problems ranged from chronic heart disease (the underlying problem for 35.8 per cent of deaths) to diabetes (20.6 per cent) and cancer (14.1 per cent), according to the ABS data.
The average age of those who died with coronavirus was 81 for men and 86 for women.
Meanwhile, there were 32,000 deaths from heart disease in Australia in that period, with Covid deaths accounting for just one per cent of all deaths nationwide. Another 100,000 died of cancer during those 22 months.
Ben Fordham criticized a Covid “scare campaign” after new figures emerged from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Pictured is a queue for a Covid PCR test in Sydney’s CBD on December 28.
“We are not exaggerating the situation and we are not ignoring the victims,” said the 2GB presenter. “But these records expose the exaggerated fear campaign we have witnessed.”
Fordham went on air to claim, “Ninety-two percent had other underlying health problems, an average of three (underlying health problems) per person.”
“It wasn’t just Covid that claimed lives.”
The radio host said health advice during Australia’s 2020 and 2021 lockdowns should have focused more on countering one of Covid’s worst comorbidities – obesity.
“Why don’t we warn people that one of the biggest risk factors is being too heavy?” he asked.
‘Were we worried about fat shaming?’
The United States, where 16 states have obesity rates above 35 percent, has the highest Covid mortality rate in the world with 947,895 deaths.