Coronavirus Australia: Mistake in COVID modelling that informed lockdown

A major error has been uncovered in the COVID-19 modelling used by the Federal Government to inform Australia’s tough lockdown restrictions. Modelling released by Melbourne’s Peter Doherty Institute earlier this year showed grim predictions of the impact the coronavirus pandemic would have on Australia if no measures were taken to suppress it. But The Daily Telegraph has revealed an error in the modelling meant the number of people that would need ICU beds was dramatically over-estimated, making the potential impacts of the pandemic appear much worse. When the modelling was released, chief medical officer Brendan Murphy branded it a “horrendous scenario”. “A daily demand for new intensive care beds of 35,000 plus,” he said. Professor Murphy warned Australians this ICU capacity was “completely beyond the realm of any country to create”.