Australia’s COVID-19 threat: The pandemic in five charts

The fight against coronavirus is a numbers game and visualising the data from Australia and overseas gives us the clearest picture yet of how we’ll win or lose.

Since the first cases of COVID-19 emerged, data on the virus’s spread has been critical in determining how governments respond and how we live our lives.

Visualising it now can help us understand both the danger and how far we have come.

The animation below is updated daily with data from the US and shows how case numbers have risen over time.

Watching it, two time frames immediately stand out – the moment in July when case numbers in Victoria surpassed those in NSW and the shocking rise in cases in the US from April onwards.

Comparing the impact on different states offers both a sobering picture – how quickly things can get out of hand – and a reassuring one, when we look at the parts of the country that have kept their cases numbers stable.

All eyes, naturally, remain on the situation in Melbourne, with daily case numbers repeatedly setting new records despite lockdowns.

NSW continues to record cases too, with the spread to different areas an obvious cause for concern, though daily numbers are far below what Victoria has seen.

Select an area on the map below for case details

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: “The work that is being done to trace cases, to known sources, has been very effective that gives us obviously a lot more cause for confidence in NSW.”

There’s no room for complacency though – even outside Victoria – with the PM saying: “The virus is still out there. It hasn’t left the country. It is still here. It is not going to go anywhere.”

The danger cannot be underestimated, and it is not unprecedented.

A look back at history reveals the horrors previous pandemics have wrought, often with staggering death tolls.

So what does the future hold now?

In survey results from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, almost one in five Australians (18%) questioned in early July thought it would take over a year before life returned to normal.

One in eleven people thought life would never return to normal.

Tell us what you think.