NSW’s Kerry Chant going to Israel to share COVID-19 notes
NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant will lead a team of delegates to Israel next month for a high-level information exchange on managing the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kerry Chant Pic: Twitter
Fifteen Australian public health experts and clinicians will meet with counterparts from Israel’s health and foreign affairs ministries and top academics to discuss the ongoing handling of the viral disease.
A key objective is to develop more substantial partnerships which can inform continuing COVID-19 management and help prepare Australia, Israel and other nations for future public health threats.
Both countries were hailed for their swift and effective responses to the pandemic in early 2020.
Australia’s strict social distancing guidelines, travel bans and use of mathematical modelling to guide public policy resulted in one of the world’s lowest COVID-19 death rates.
Meanwhile, Israel became a world leader in real-time research, analysis and data integration at the height of the pandemic.
The nation also led a successful vaccination drive and had the fastest vaccine rollout, becoming the first country to introduce third and fourth doses.
Peter Doherty Institute director Sharon Lewin said there would likely be lessons for Australia in how Israel used systems and data to help manage COVID-19.
“Israel was able to provide real-time research and analysis of what was unfolding in their country and we’re very interested in how they managed that so well,” Professor Lewin said.
“On this tour, we’re hoping to learn a lot more about Israel’s health informatics and data systems and how similar approaches could be integrated into the Australian public health response.”
She said Israel is particularly interested in learning about an important discovery Australia made during the pandemic – linking antibody levels following vaccination to clinical outcomes.
The visit is being organised by AUSiMED, a not-for-profit organisation fostering medical research collaboration and knowledge transfer between Austra lia and Israel.
“Australia and Israel are strategic partners in trade, culture and health, and both have much to offer each other and the rest of the world in terms of COVID-19 learnings,” chairman Antony Cohen said.
With data still to come in from the ACT on Thursday, Australia had reported 132 deaths from the virus, with 109 of those across the three most-populous states.
LATEST 24-HOUR COVID-19 DATA:
Victoria: 4416 cases, 46 deaths, 497 in hospital with 27 in ICU
NSW: 8149 cases, 43 deaths, 2046 in hospital with 54 in ICU
Queensland: 3060 cases, 20 deaths, 448 in hospital with 21 in ICU
Tasmania: 444 cases, two deaths, 59 in hospital with two in ICU
SA: 1170 cases, 12 deaths, 240 in hospital with eight in ICU
WA: 2210 cases, nine deaths, 267 in hospital with seven in ICU
NT: 154 cases, three deaths, 40 in hospital with one in ICU
AAP
