New Zealand has attracted praise for its management of COVID-19, and rightly so. As at the beginning of October where the pandemic is spreading at an alarming rate in many places (see the WHO dashboard), New Zealand has kept the rate of infections low.
It’s interesting as a Queenslander to compare our numbers with New Zealand. Although geographically New Zealand and Queensland are very different, the size of our populations is very similar.
How has Queensland fared with coronavirus compared to New Zealand?
Good. Really good. Here’s the data as at 1st October 2020:
| Queensland | New Zealand | |
| Population (million) | 5.2 | 5.1 |
| Total Confirmed COVID-19 Cases | 1157 | 1492 |
| COVID-19 Deaths | 6 | 25 |
| Active COVID-19 Cases | 4 | 53 |
| New COVID-19 Cases Last 24 Hours | 0 | 12 |
Maybe that data has a bigger impact as a chart. Actually let’s make that two charts:
ONE
Comparing Queensland and New Zealand Population size, COVID-19 Deaths, Active COVID-19 Cases and New COVID-19 Cases as at 01/10/20
TWO
Comparing Queensland and New Zealand Total Confirmed COVID-19 Cases as at 01/10/20
As I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts in May 2020 and August 2020, I’m not sharing this info as a macabre version of the Bledisloe Cup. It’s not a competition. It’s certainly not a game. There have been over a million deaths, and there are more to come: countless families across the world are in mourning. I’m sharing this because – like nearly other health professional in Queensland – I do not take my good fortune for granted.
They have all done an amazing job 👍
— Kate K (@KittyKat_TT) September 26, 2020
The Disclaimer
I’m not an epidemiologist, nor do I have any qualifications or experience in public health. It’s easy to imagine that people who do have that background rolling their eyes and slapping their foreheads at this amateurish, dumb comparison between two populations without taking all the demographic, geographic, climatic and social variables into account.
I’m not pretending to be an expert in this stuff, I am just sharing raw data and counting my blessings. I hope it gives other Queenslanders some reassurance and pride too. That’s the aim.
Data Sources
Queensland population www.qgso.qld.gov.au/statistics
New Zealand population www.stats.govt.nz/topics/population
Queensland COVID-19 info www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19/current-status/statistics (data extracted on 01/10/20)
New Zealand COVID-19 info www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-current-situation/covid-19-current-cases (data extracted on 01/10/20)
End
Thanks for visiting. As always, you are welcome to leave feedback in the comments section below.
Paul McNamara, 2 October 2020
Short URL: meta4RN.com/compare
meta4RN 
Hi Paul
I think another consideration is geography – Queensland seem very large as I fly over it (in my memory only) and New Zealand is long but very thin. One massive population centre Auckland – maybe like Brisvegas – and lots of small communities quite close together. Queensland’s small communities have a bit of spread … Anyway, keep that border closed I say
cheers
Jean
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Both good results – population density & geographical isolation (in it’s various forms) both important factors I think (as another completely unqualified epidemiologist). I too feel lucky.
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