LTCcovid Country Profiles

Responses to 2.01. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the country (total population)

Australia

Overview

Between January 2020 and July 2021 there were just over 30,000 COVID cases in Australia with 910 deaths (58% of the deaths were in people over 85 years of age). Most of the COVID cases during this period were concentrated in two major waves of COVID in Australia interspersed with periods of low or zero community transmission with occasional localised COVID outbreaks. During this time, Australia states were either for the suppression and/or elimination of COVID control achieved by tight border restrictions, hotel quarantine, lockdowns, density limits in venues, mask wearing (in 2021), high levels PCR testing, contact tracing and isolation. Between November 2020 and July 2021 Australia had largely eliminated community transmission of COVID with the exception of localised outbreaks.

A third wave started in July 2021 in NSW which spread to Victoria.

From November/December 2021, following a vaccination program with targets of at least 80% vaccination for adults, the national focus changed from suppression/elimination to “living with COVID” and managing it like any other disease. This resulted state governments lifting most restrictions in most states (excluding Western Australia) including border restrictions and hotel quarantine and reducing contact tracing and isolation requirements for both COVID positive people and their close and casual contacts.

In late November the Omicron strain was sequenced in Australia. In December 2021 and January 2022 there was a rapid acceleration of COVID cases in all states in Australia (except Western Australia), with NSW and Victoria most affected.

As of the 23rd March 2022 there have been 3,868,171 confirmed COVID-19 infections in Australia, and 5,789 deaths, according to the Australian Department of Health. There are currently 402,837 estimated active cases in Australia. So far, deaths amount to 223 per 1 million population.

Although case numbers declined in January and early-mid February in NSW, Victoria, ACT, the Northern Territory, South Australia and Tasmania case numbers have started during late February to early March in all states except for the Northern Territory. From the beginning of February cases began rising in Western Australia which, as a result of strict internal and external borders and quarantine policy, has been largely free of community transmission of COVID. Both international and interstate borders were lifted on the 3rd of March 2022.

More details about the spread of COVID in Australia are given below.

The first wave

The first case of COVID-19 in Australia was identified on January 25, 2020, from a man who travelled from Wuhan to Melbourne.  Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the Australian Health Sector Emergency Response Plan for Novel Coronavirus on February 27, 2020, and the first economic stimulus package on March 12, 2020. By mid-March, most states and territories were in lockdown. Cases began falling across the country in April, and on May 8, 2020, the government announced a three-stage plan to ease lockdown restrictions.

The second wave

The second wave was limited mostly to Victoria (June – October) and was managed with a strict lockdown.

Localised COVID outbreaks

Despite Australia’s suppression/elimination strategy, there were some leaks out of hotel quarantine.  Australian states used contact tracing and “snap lockdowns” to halt community transmission of the virus during smaller outbreaks.

Third wave (Delta strain)

In July 2021, an outbreak of the Delta strain started in Sydney resulting in a third wave of COVID infections. NSW implemented a strict lockdown. The outbreak spread to Victoria where a lockdown was also implemented. The case numbers decreased substantially through November and early December.

Omicron and “living with COVID”

From mid-December 2021 and early January 2022 introduction of the Omicron strain of the virus, the concomitant easing of restrictions in most states and a change in policy directions which focus on “living with COVID” there has been rapid acceleration of COVID infections.  Limitations on PCR testing capacity, extensive delays for PCR testing and lack of access to rapid antigen tests in the community has meant that the available case data is likely to be an underrepresentation of the number of active cases.

Hospitalisation rates and death among recipients of aged care services have been lower during 2021 than in the 2020 waves.

Last updated: March 23rd, 2022   Contributors: Erica Breuer  |  

Bulgaria

As of December 2, 2021, there have been 697,162 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Bulgaria, and 28,542 deaths, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, corresponding to 412 attributed deaths per 100,000 population.

Last updated: December 5th, 2021   Contributors: Disha Patel  |  

British Columbia (Canada)

As of February 7, 2021, there have been 69,716 confirmed COVID-19 infections in British Columbia and 1,246 deaths attributed to COVID-19, corresponding to 25.45 COVID-19 attributed deaths per 100,000 population (Source: https://resources-covid19canada.hub.arcgis.com/app/cases-cases-per-100k-population-webapp).

The first presumptive positive case of COVID-19 in British Columbia was identified on January 28, 2020. The first case of community transmission was announced on March 5, 2020. On March 18, a provincial state of emergency was declared in British Columbia, and by the end of March, all schools, personal service establishments, and dine-in restaurant services were closed. Health officials considered British Columbia to be successful in flattening the curve by late April and on June 24, the province entered phase 3 of its restart plan, where most establishments were allowed to reopen and non-essential travel within the province resumed. A second wave of COVID-19 was declared in British Columbia on October 19 and in November, mandatory mask policies and new restrictions against social gatherings were introduced. In December, Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were approved for use in Canada. The first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in British Columbia was administered on December 15. As of January 29, 2021, 129.421 vaccine doses have been administered. Current restrictions on social gatherings, restaurant services, fitness centres, and travel have been extended indefinitely (Source: https://bc.ctvnews.ca/scroll-through-this-timeline-of-the-1st-year-of-covid-19-in-b-c-1.5284929).

Last updated: November 6th, 2021

China

As of December 2, 2021, there have been 98,897 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in China, and 4,636 deaths, according to the National Health Commission, corresponding to 0.33 attributed deaths per 100,000 population.

Last updated: December 5th, 2021   Contributors: Disha Patel  |  

Croatia

As of December 2, 2021, there have been 613,914 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Croatia, and 10,967 deaths, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, corresponding to 246 attributed deaths per 100,000 population.

Last updated: December 5th, 2021   Contributors: Disha Patel  |  

Cyprus

As of December 2, 2021, there have been 134,965 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Cyprus, and 598 deaths, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, corresponding to 49.5 attributed deaths per 100,000 population.

Last updated: December 5th, 2021   Contributors: Disha Patel  |  

Czech Republic

As of December 2, 2021, there have been 2,193,289 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in The Czech Republic, and 33,317 deaths, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, corresponding to 311 attributed deaths per 100,000 population.

Last updated: December 5th, 2021   Contributors: Disha Patel  |  

Denmark

Overall, and in comparison to other countries, Denmark has succeeded in keeping the number of persons infected with COVID-19, as well as mortality related to the disease, low. Also among older people 65+ the rates have been relatively lower: In an age-standardized comparison with England/Wales, Norway, Germany and Sweden, mortality among the population 65+ in the first wave of the pandemic (from April 2020) was nearly 9% in England, 6% in Sweden and only 5% in both Germany and Denmark, and 4% in Norway (Kjellberg et al, 2022).

Over time, more and more people have caught the disease. In May 2020, 458,305 persons in the population had tested positively. As of Sept 9^th 2022, this had increased to 3,097,088 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Denmark (population of 5,873,419) and 6.968 deaths. This is based on PCR-test exclusively. 3,097,088 persons have caught COVID-19, which means there have been 182,964 reinfections, according to the Danish Health Authority.

References:

Danish Health Authority (2022) COVID-19 surveillance, https://www.sst.dk/en/english/corona-eng/status-of-the-epidemic/covid-19-updates-statistics-and-charts

Kjellberg, J.; Hirani, J.C.; Mikkelsen, M. Juel, K. (2022) Dødelighed under covid-19-epidemien januar 2020 – april 2021 Delrapport 1. En sammenligning med tidligere epidemier og andre lande. København: VIVE.

Rostgaard T (2020) The COVID-19 Long-Term Care situation in Denmark. LTCcovid, International Long-Term Care Policy Network, CPEC-LSE, 25 May 2020.

Last updated: May 25th, 2023   Contributors: Joanna Marczak  |  

Estonia

As of December 3, 2021, there have been 224,195 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Estonia, and 1,810 deaths, according to the  European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, corresponding to 127 attributed deaths per 100,000 population.

Last updated: December 5th, 2021   Contributors: Disha Patel  |  

Finland

As of February 21, 2021 there have been 53,742 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Finland, and 726 deaths, according to Our World in Data. These numbers have been steadily rising since March 2020, when the first lockdown measures were announced and the first death was reported (March 20) (Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19z_e5j7bcPxUYh2qLBa6VwrVDVnWilv7/view). Numbers of cases, testing, and deaths are being recorded by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) (Source: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/92e9bb33fac744c9a084381fc35aa3c7).

Last updated: August 3rd, 2021

France

As of Dec 01, 2021, there have been 7,778,575 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in France, and 120,112 deaths attributed to COVID-19 corresponding to 179.11 per 100,000 population. A summary of measures taken is available.

Last updated: December 3rd, 2021   Contributors: Camille Oung  |  

Germany

Latest numbers

As of 4th February 2022, there have been 10,671,602 confirmed COVID-19 infections in Germany, and 118,504 deaths attributed to COVID-19, according to the RKI (Robert Koch Institut, 2022a, 2022b).

Impact of the different waves

The first wave of COVID-19 infections was relatively mild in Germany, however, the second wave (experienced mostly between December 2020 and January 2021) and the third wave (March to April 2021) were much more severe. The fourth wave has had the highest number of infections so far and it gradually eased at the end of 2021. Due to the fast spread of the Omicron variant, the fifth wave is expected to be the strongest in terms of infection figures (ZDF 2022, Schilling et al., 2021, RKI 2022). The death toll was highest in the second wave, followed by the fourth wave (RKI, 2022).

References

Robert Koch Institut (2022) Wöchentlicher Lagebericht des RKI zur Coronavirus-Krankheit-2019 (COVID-19)  – 06.01.2022 – AKTUALISIERTER STAND FÜR DEUTSCHLAND. Available at: https://www.rki.de/DE/Content/InfAZ/N/Neuartiges_Coronavirus/Situationsberichte/Wochenbericht/Wochenbericht_2022-01-06.pdf?__blob=publicationFile

Robert Koch Institut (2022a) Situation reports from Monday to Friday. Available at: https://www.rki.de/EN/Content/infections/epidemiology/outbreaks/COVID-19/Situationsberichte_Tab.html (Accessed 5 February 2022).

Robert Koch Institut (2022b) Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Daily Situation Report by the Robert Koch Institute 04/02/2022- CURRENT STATUS FOR GERMANY. Available at: https://www.rki.de/DE/Content/InfAZ/N/Neuartiges_Coronavirus/Situationsberichte/Feb_2022/2022-02-04-en.pdf?__blob=publicationFile (Accessed 5 February 2022).

Schilling, J., Tolksdorf, K., Marquis, A., Faber, M., Pfoch, T., Buda, S., Haas, W., Schuler, E., Altmann, D., Grote, U., Diercke, M & RKI COVID-19 Study Group (2021) ‘Die verschiedenen Phasen der COVID-19-Pandemie in Deutschland: Eine deskriptive Analyse von Januar 2020 bis Februar 2021’ Bumdesgesundheitsblatt – Gesundheitsforschung – Gesundheitsschutz, 64, pp.1093-1106. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00103-021-03394-x

Last updated: February 12th, 2022   Contributors: Klara Lorenz-Dant  |  Thomas Fischer  |  Kerstin Hämel  |  

Greece

As of December 3, 2021, there have been 951,351 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Greece, and 18,325 deaths, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, corresponding to 171 attributed deaths per 100,000 population

Last updated: December 5th, 2021   Contributors: Disha Patel  |  

Hong Kong (China)

As of April 8, 2022, more than 1.17 million people have contracted the virus since the onset of the fifth wave of COVID-19 (starting from 31 Dec 2021), involving 8,430 deaths. About 96% of the deaths were people aged 60 years and over, while over 70% are those aged 80 years and over. The latest data on the epidemic situation of the 5^th wave in Hong Kong can be found on the Government’s news site.

Last updated: April 11th, 2022   Contributors: Cheng Shi  |  

Hungary

As of December 3, 2021, there have been 1,134,869 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Hungary, and 35,122 deaths, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, corresponding to 365.6 attributed deaths per 100,000 population.

Last updated: December 5th, 2021   Contributors: Disha Patel  |  

Israel

As of November 23, 2021, there have been 1,341,262 cases of COVID-19 in Israel and 8,178 deaths (Source: Clalit, 2021). According to Israel’s COVID Data Dashboard, those aged 70 and older have accounted for approximately 79% of COVID-19 related deaths in Israel so far. The pandemic was maintained at a reasonably low number of infections in Israel between February 21, 2020 (first case detected) and September 2020, with an effective first lockdown easing by May. In September 2020, the first major wave coinciding with the Jewish High Holidays resulted in a second lockdown. This first wave peaked at 6,276 cases on September 27. In tandem with a record-breaking vaccination campaign rollout, a second wave began in mid-December. The daily number of cases peaked at 8,624 on January 17, 2021, with the majority of cases due to a new, more virulent strain (Source: CGD). On November 22^nd, there were only 711 new cases, assumably attributed mainly to the booster shots given to 4,054,691 Israelies.

Last updated: December 5th, 2021   Contributors: LIAT AYALON  |  Shoshana Lauter  |  

Italy

As of November 3rd, 2021 4.785.867 Italians tested positive for Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, 131.560 people died from the virus, and 95.1% of deaths concerned people aged 60 or more (source: Ministry of Health).

The share of people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 is higher than the average of the European Union: 72% vs 66% respectively.

Sources:

Istituto Superiore de Sanità. Epidemia COVID-19. Aggiornamento Nazionale 3 novembre 2021.

Our World in Data. Coronavirus (COVID-19 Vaccinations), accessed 5th November 2021.

Last updated: November 9th, 2021   Contributors: Eleonora Perobelli  |  Elisabetta Notarnicola  |  

Japan

As of February 5, 2021, there have been 399,048 confirmed COVID-19 infections in Japan, and 6,135 deaths attributed to COVID-19, according to the World Health Organisation, corresponding to 4.851 COVID-19 attributed deaths per 100,000 population. Japan is among other Asian countries reporting lower infection fatality rates than other parts of the World (Source: https://ageingasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/COVID_LTC_Report-Final-20-November-2020.pdf). Most of the early attention on Japan was focused on the Diamond Princess cruise ship: people on board started a 2-week quarantine on February 5, 2020 (Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32183930/).

Last updated: August 3rd, 2021

Latvia

As of December 3, 2021, there have been 255,402 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Lativa, and 4,232 deaths, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, corresponding to 222.56 attributed deaths per 100,000 population.

Last updated: December 6th, 2021   Contributors: Disha Patel  |  

Liechtenstein

As of December 3, 2021, there have been 4,779 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Liechtenstein, and 62 deaths, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, corresponding to 162.57 attributed deaths per 100,000 population.

Last updated: December 5th, 2021   Contributors: Disha Patel  |  

Malaysia

The first COVID-19 case in Malaysia was reported on 24^th January 2020, and the number of cases began to increase two months later, in March (Jamaluddin et al., 2022). As of February 2022, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Malaysia is just under 3.1 million, and there have been 32,180 deaths. The greatest increase in the number of cases was seen in the second half of 2021, with the peak in infections seen in August 2021 (as a result of the Delta variant) (source: Worldometres).

Since the end of August 2021, the majority of deaths have been in the over 60 age-group (source: Malaysia MOH). Between 24 February and 14 September 2021, the median age of people who died from COVID-19 was 61 years old, and most deaths occurred in the 60-69 age group. Higher mortality rates were observed in the population who were unvaccinated (Abdul Taib et al., 2022).

Although the pandemic affected all of Malaysian society, vulnerable communities and low-income groups were affected in particular. It is thought that just over half a million households that were in the middle 40% income group fell to the bottom 40% group as a result of the pandemic (source: Yeo, 2021).

References:

Abdul Taib, N. A., Baha Raja, D., Teo, A. K. J., Kamarulzaman, A., William, T., HS, A. S., Mokhtar, S. A., Ting, C. Y., Yap, W. A., Kim, M. C. Y., & Edwin Amir, L. (2022). Characterisation of COVID-19 deaths by vaccination types and status in Malaysia between February and September 2021. The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific, 18, 100354. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.LANWPC.2021.100354/ATTACHMENT/96E09F81-FB57-495F-9CE7-DFDA52281B3C/MMC1.DOCX

Jamaluddin, F., Sheikh Dawood, S. R., Ramli, M. W., & Mohd Som, S. H. (2022). Bouncing back from the pandemic? A psychosocial analysis of older adults in urban areas of Malaysia. Http://Www.Editorialmanager.Com/Cogenthumanities, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2021.1996045

Last updated: February 16th, 2022   Contributors: Daisy Pharoah  |  

Netherlands

During the first wave of the pandemic, Southern regions of the Netherlands were hardest hit, with Carnival celebrations being one of the main catalysts. The second wave started in September 2020, and by November was most pronounced in the West, including in the large urban centres Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and the Hague. An overview of the first year of the pandemic is available here.

Sources: https://ltccovid.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/COVID-19-Long-Term-Care-situation-in-the-Netherlands-_-the-second-wave-25-November-2020-2.pdf.

Last updated: January 6th, 2022

Pakistan

Official sources report that as of January 2022, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is around 1.4 million, and deaths around 29,000. However, this is likely to be a substantial underestimate of the real levels of COVID-19 cases and mortality due to limited testing capabilities (Ahmed, 2021 and Our World in Data).

Last updated: January 27th, 2022   Contributors: Daisy Pharoah  |  

Republic of Korea

As of February 5, 2021, there have been 80,524 confirmed COVID-19 infections in South Korea, and 1,464 deaths, according to Our World In Data, corresponding to 2.8 deaths per 100,000 population.

Last updated: August 3rd, 2021

Romania

As of December 3, 2021, there have been 1,781,957 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Romania, and 56,684 deaths, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, corresponding to 293.91 attributed deaths per 100,000 population.

Last updated: December 6th, 2021   Contributors: Disha Patel  |  

Slovakia

As of December 3, 2021, there have been 1,207,728 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Slovakia, and 14,696 deaths, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, corresponding to 269.222 attributed deaths per 100,000 population.

Last updated: December 6th, 2021   Contributors: Disha Patel  |  

Sweden

According to the National Board of Health and Welfare, As of February 14, 2022, 15,522 people had died attributed to COVID-19 in Sweden, of these, 65.7% were aged 80 or over.

Last updated: February 22nd, 2022

Scotland (UK)

National Records of Scotland (NRS) publish weekly figures on death registrations where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate as either confirmed COVID-19 or suspected COVID-19. According to this data, as of the 28^th November 2021, there have been 12,127 deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

Last updated: March 8th, 2022   Contributors: Jenni Burton  |  David Bell  |  Elizabeth Lemmon  |  David Henderson  |  

United States

As of early March 2021, the United States had identified 29.5 million cases of COVID-19, and over 530,000 deaths. As of this date, the United States has been the country hit hardest by the pandemic per capita.

Last updated: July 29th, 2021

Vietnam

Given high economic openness and a large population, with many people living in crowded areas, Vietnam had high risks of being devastated by COVID-19 (Tung, 2020). However, Vietnam was called a ‘COVID exemplar’ by Our World in Data, who reported that by the end of 2020 Vietnam had reported only 1,465 laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 35 deaths. By comparison, by this time the United Kingdom had suffered some 72,000 deaths (source: GOV.UK) and the USA roughly 385,000 (source: CDC). Egypt, which has a similar population to Vietnam although lower population density, had suffered around 7,000 COVID-19 deaths by the end of 2020 (source: worldometres).

This relative success may be attributed to several factors. Key containment decisions were made within a few days of the outbreak; a decision which took some other governments several weeks. It is likely that Vietnam was able to act as quickly as it did due to its experience and existing relevant infrastructure, having experienced a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003 and avian influenza between 2004 and 2010.

Vietnam’s proactive containment strategy was based on comprehensive detecting, contact tracing, and containment. Testing was scaled up in areas with community transmission, and three degrees of contacts was traced each time a positive case was identified. These individuals were placed in government-run quarantine centres. Areas where community transmission had been demonstrated were immediately locked down (source: Our World in Data). Furthermore, the population in Vietnam was relatively compliant, having high reported levels of trust in the authorities (Tung, 2020).

The second half of 2021 was less of a success story for Vietnam as a fourth, and most complicated and dangerous, wave hit the nation (Minh et al., 2021). From early June, confirmed cases began to grow exponentially and went from around 7,500 to around 1.7 million by the end of the year. This was mainly due to the emergence of the new (delta) variant, which spread quickly within hospitals in Vietnam, and also in large industrialised zones and communities. The sudden spike in community cases put a huge burden on the system; in particular on healthcare services and track and trace (Minh et al., 2021). Cumulative deaths were at 48 on the 1^st June 2021, but similarly grew exponentially in the second half of the year and had reached just under 32,000 by the end of 2021. The main spikes in death were in August, early September, and December (source: Our World in Data).

To date (end of December, 2021), there have been no reported cases of the Omicron variant (source: Reuters).

References:

Minh, L. H. N., Khoi Quan, N., Le, T. N., Khanh, P. N. Q., & Huy, N. T. (2021). COVID-19 Timeline of Vietnam: Important Milestones Through Four Waves of the Pandemic and Lesson Learned. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, 1587. https://doi.org/10.3389/FPUBH.2021.709067/BIBTEX

Tung, L. T. (2020). Social Responses for Older People in COVID-19 Pandemic: Experience from Vietnam. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 63, 682–687. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2020.1773596

Last updated: December 30th, 2021   Contributors: Daisy Pharoah  |