COVID-19 is again creating a sense of fear and panic in many Australians. It’s not hard to see why.

Until the middle of last year, we were relatively well protected from COVID-19’s worst effects. We had kept the spread of the virus under control and often had long stretches of zero-COVID, thus limiting our periods of severe restrictions – although Victoria was an important exception. But this year, the infection numbers are staggering compared to the previous two years, and more than 10,000 people have died from the infection in 2022 alone.