New research by Australia’s water safety authorities reveals that COVID-19 lockdowns may be the reason for a “tragic increase” in child drownings, with “exhausted” working-from-home parents failing to supervise their children and swimming classes suspended. There were 294 drowning deaths in the past 12 months across Australia’s coastline, inland waterways, and pools, a 20 percent year-on-year increase. Twenty-five of deaths were children aged 0-4 years, a 9% increase on the 10-year average. Among all deaths, 17% are people aged 25-34 years, the most of any age group. The figures are from the Royal Life Saving Society – Australia (RLSSA)’s National Drowning Report and Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA)’s National Coastal Safety Report published on Sept. 8. The research highlighted two key trends, including surges in drowning deaths “immediately following large-scale lockdowns”;  and more Australians spending their holidays domestically and swimming in unfamiliar (usually unpatrolled) waters. It concluded that the impacts of …