Abstract
After successfully avoiding the situations experienced by some countries, Australasian EDs now face a future in which the ongoing threat of COVID-19 is added to the traditional challenges in providing quality emergency care. The contribution of emergency medicine to the national containment strategy adds a new dimension to the demands placed on emergency medicine in Australia and similarly, to the elimination strategy employed in New Zealand. These demands will best be met by a considered, planned and resourced approach that will challenge traditional measures of 'ED efficiency'.