COVID-19 outcomes
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COVID-19 hospitalisations
Between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2021, there were 209 hospitalisations for humanitarian entrants who had a COVID-19 ICD-10-AM diagnosis code.
The rate of COVID-19 hospitalisations for humanitarian entrants was similar to that for other permanent migrants in 2019–20 (Figure 9). However, in 2020–21, the rate of hospitalisations for humanitarian entrants with a COVID-19 diagnosis code was over 5 times as high as other permanent migrants.
Figure 9: Rate of COVID-19 hospitalisations by cohort, 2019–20 to 2020–21
This bar chart shows COVID-19 hospitalisations per 100,000 people for humanitarian entrants and other permanent migrants. The cohorts had similar rates of COVID-19 hospitalisations in 2019–20, however humanitarian entrants had much higher rates than other permanent migrants in to 2020–21.
| COVID-19 hospitalisations per 100,000 people | Humanitarian entrants | Other permanent migrants |
|---|---|---|
| 2019–20 | 7 | 8 |
| 2020–21 | 92 | 17 |
Source:
Refugee health linked data set
Notes:
- This does not include hospitalisations which occurred in WA or NT or for people living in WA or NT.
Please refer to the Data tables for more detailed data, and the Technical notes for more details about the ICD-10-AM codes.
COVID-19 deaths
Between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2022, 53 humanitarian entrants died due to COVID-19 where it directly caused conditions leading to death (listed as the underlying cause of death on the death certificate).
In 2021 for deaths due to COVID-19, the crude death rate for humanitarian entrants was 19.5 per 100,000 people. The crude death rate for other permanent migrants was 0.6 per 100,000 people and 5.2 per 100,000 people for the general Australian population (ABS 2024) (Table 5).
Cohort | COVID-19 deaths in 2020 | Rate of COVID-19 deaths in 2020 (per 100,000 people) | COVID-19 deaths in 2021 | Rate of COVID-19 deaths in 2021 (per 100,000 people) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Humanitarian entrants | 7 | 3.0 | 46 | 19.5 |
Other permanent migrants | 13 | 0.2 | 19 | 0.6 |
Australian population | 906 | 3.5 | 1,355 | 5.2 |
Source: Refugee health linked data set, Australian Bureau of Statistics, COVID-19 Mortality in Australia: Deaths registered until 31 January 2024 27/02/2024
This observation continues after adjusting for age using Standardised Mortality Ratios (SMRs) to control for differences in age structures. The rate of deaths due to COVID-19 in 2021 was 8.5 (CI: 6.0 to 11.0) times as high in humanitarian entrants as the general Australian population. While the rate of deaths due to COVID-19 in other permanent migrants was lower than the general Australian population, 0.3 times as high (CI: 0.1 to 0.4 ). Unlike crude rates, these SMRs cannot be used to compare COVID-19 mortality rates between other groups or across time. This is because each SMR is a measure that provides a comparison that is specific to the populations involved. See the Technical notes for further detail.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2024), COVID-19 Mortality in Australia: Deaths registered until 31 January 2024, ABS website, accessed 06 June 2024.