Social researcher says demographics are not to blame for Melbourne’s COVID-19 outbreaks

A demographer has thrown cold water on the theory that Melbourne’s demographics make it more susceptible to COVID-19 outbreaks than Sydney.

It had been suggested Melbourne’s younger, more socially active population and love for public transport as well as population density could be contributing to the spread of the virus.

However, social researcher and demographer at McCrindle Research Mark McCrindle says that is not the case.

“If you were to do a study of two global cities, and matched them side-by-side, you couldn’t get two better cases studies than Sydney and Melbourne because they do share so much in terms of their demographic profile,” he told Tom Elliott on 3AW Drive.

“Sydney-siders … haven’t had (a COVID outbreak), so that’s been a blessing and the reasons for that … can’t be put down to demographics, because that’s not the case.”

Click PLAY to hear the interview below