The Informer: The numbers game we can't afford to lose

Sometimes it seems we get lost in a barrage of numbers. Way back in January 2020 it started with a simple count - of people diagnosed with COVID-19. Now it's morphed into an avalanche of numbers and graphs and lists and percentages.

It's quite overwhelming - particularly when numbers aren't really your thing. Should a politician compare the number of Australians now vaccinated to the population of another small European country, tables may be flipped (no, not really, but teeth will be gnashed and eyes rolled).

But here's the rub, for the not too distant future our lives are indeed dependent on numbers. It will take a percentage of the population to be vaccinated before governments consider "opening up". Simplistically it's the equivalent of "hit a goal and get a reward". It is, of course, far more complex than that.

If you have evolved into a number-cruncher since the start of the pandemic, there are all sorts of wonderful permutations to be found on covidbaseau. It is a veritable maze of numerical rabbit holes.

The stat of the day across the nation was the whopping 309,010 jabs administered over the previous 24 hours.

But hot on those arithmetic heels was the fact that more than half of the nation's population aged 16 and above has received at least one dose, and all up 28.8 per cent are fully vaccinated.

With eligibility being extended to everyone aged 16 to 39 from the end of the month, tha'st about 8.6 million people who can be vaccinated if that's their choice. Oh, even more numbers!

If you're eligible and keen to join the ranks of the vaccinated, you might also like to check out this website which connects you with community pharmacies offering injections. Certainly a better alternative to the group apparently offering "quick turnaround vaccinations" out of a Sydney hospital - for $300 a pop.

Back to the numbers - there were sobering statistics, too, today.

The vast majority of Thursday's 754 new infections were detected in NSW, which had 681 cases of local transmission. There were 57 cases in Melbourne and 16 in Canberra, with the combined tally eclipsed the record set last year during Victoria's deadly second wave.

Which leads us to another number - this one's a date: 28-08-2021. That's when regional NSW's lockdown has been extended to, for now anyway. And, ultimately, we know that date is linked to all the numbers - cases, infections and vaccinations rates. And so it goes, numbers, numbers and more numbers.

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