The southern hemisphere skipped flu season in 2020
Efforts to stop covid-19 have had at least one welcome side-effect
EVERY WINTER, from May to October, tens of thousands of Australians and New Zealanders are asked how they feel. More precisely, they are asked by their governments in weekly surveys if they have a cough or a fever. Although 2020 has been a difficult year in many ways for Aussies and Kiwis, it has not necessarily been bad for their physical health. This winter only around 0.4% of people in the two countries said they were suffering from flu-like symptoms, down by four-fifths compared with last year. Other countries in the southern hemisphere have reported similar slowdowns in the spread of influenza.
This article appeared in the Graphic detail section of the print edition under the headline “Cold case”
Graphic detail September 12th 2020
From the September 12th 2020 edition
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