Australia’s intensive care units have been saved from being overwhelmed with up to 35,000 coronavirus patient a day, thanks to the strict social distancing measures.

The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne modelled the scenarios for federal and state leaders at the start of the crisis.

And released to the public on Tuesday by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy.

It looked at a worst-case scenario, based on international experience, and showed if no action had been taken to stop the spread of the disease, around 23 million people, or 89% of the population, could have been infected.