Covid Australia: Graph reveals Omicron stat proving Australia is WINNING war against virus 

One key graph reveals Australia is beating the Omicron outbreak thanks to its mass vaccination program that is among the best in the world.

Despite dramatically surging numbers as the highly virulent Covid strain spreads through the population, the death rate from the disease has dropped to a record low.

Australia’s case fatality rate (CFR) – the ratio between Covid deaths vs case numbers – remained stable until the vaccination program began to roll out last winter.

The jabs had an immediate impact, slashing the death rate from 330 per 10,000 cases to just 15 per 10,000 this week. 

In October 2020, the CFR hit 3.30 per cent – 330 deaths per 10,000 cases – and stayed around there until the vaccination program began to roll out in 2021.

As jabs began to spread through the nation last year, the CFR immediately begin to slide ahead of the country hitting 70 per cent fully inoculated on October 20.

By the time Omicron was first reported in Australia on November 27 – three weeks after the country hit 80 per cent – the CFR had already dipped to just 0.96 per cent, its lowest level since July 2020.

But the latest data reveals the CFR hit a record low on January 15 of just 0.15 per cent and tracking to drop even lower. The figure means just 15 deaths per 10,000 cases.

Current double-dose vaccination in Australia now stands at 91.64 per cent and growing as school children begin to be jabbed.

The encouraging data comes despite a record number of Covid deaths on January 18 when 77 people died from the virus in one day across Australia.

But that number is in the context of a huge rise in Covid cases, which hit a new peak on January 13 with 153,123 people reported infected in just 24 hours.

The daily case numbers have dropped dramatically every day since, and have already halved since last week’s record high.

Victorian Premier Dan Andrews confirmed the reasons for optimism on Wednesday and admitted: ‘[Omicron] is milder. 

‘It’s not to the point of being insignificant. There are still many people in hospital and no one wants to get this Omicron variant.

‘But it is not quite as lethal as Delta was. We’re seeing many people in general ward beds, less people that are in ICU.’  

Victorian Premier Dan Andrews (pictured) confirmed the reasons for optimism on Wednesday and admitted that Omicron is milder

It backs up the message of hope from Australia’s former deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth who has predicted the Covid crisis will end in 2022.

‘It could even be sooner than we think,’ he wrote at the start of the year. 

‘Our community is ready and can move to a phase of living with COVID-19 as an endemic virus. 

‘We can be rightly proud of what we have achieved as Australians in the face of what was the challenge of our lifetime. 

‘We will emerge a stronger, healthier and more prosperous nation for our efforts.’ 

The data backs up the message of hope from Australia’s former deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth (pictured) who has predicted the Covid crisis will end in 2022

On Wednesday, NSW reported 32,297 new cases and 32 deaths, but just eight more cases in ICU, and more than 23,000 people recovering from the virus in the last day. 

Victoria recorded 20,769 new cases and 18 deaths, with two fewer patients in ICU, while Queensland had 19,932 new cases and 11 deaths.

Victoria announced the state’s health service was on Code Brown, with staff set to be recalled from holiday and elective surgery put on hold as it struggles to cope. 

But in NSW the numbers in ICU may have already plateaued at around 130 in total, far below the doomsday scenario predicted by the Burnet Institute last September for the Delta outbreak in NSW. 

They warned Delta could put almost 950 in ICU which would test the state’s health system to its limit.

In NSW the numbers in ICU may have already plateaued at around 130 in total, far below the doomsday scenario predicted last September for the Delta outbreak in NSW by the Burnet Institute (pictured, an ICU patient at St Vincent’s Hospital)

However the modelling said NSW hospitals could easily cope with ICU numbers of up to 600 before the system began to become stretched. 

A major study from South Africa found people who catch Omicron Covid are 80 per cent less likely to be hospitalised than those who get Delta.

The real-world analysis of more than 160,000 people by South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases revealed Omicron sufferers were also 70 per cent less likely to end up in ICU or put on a ventilator.

On Monday though, NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant warned: ‘The number of deaths are likely to be high over coming days.

Modelling has predicted NSW hospitals could easily cope with ICU numbers of up to 600 before the system began to become stretched (pictured, customers at a Bondi cafe in Sydney)

‘It does take seven to 14 days after the booster to afford that protection, so I can’t stress the urgency for taking up every booking available and get your boosters now.’

Australia’s current total death rate of 107 per million is still among the best in the world. The UK rate is 2,231 per million and the US is 2,559 while Sweden’s is 1526.

And only a handful of countries can beat Australia’s fully vaccinated rate for the whole population which leads the world alongside others including Spain, China, Portugal, Chile, Denmark and Canada.