Nobody knows how the sickness of Anthony Albanese will play out - but the precedents suggest that it may not be disastrous for Labor.
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In the final stages of the 2016 election, Malcom Turnbull got the flu - and sounded like he had the flu - but (croakingly) he won and continued as prime minister for another two years.
But it was different then. Being rugged up in bed, with poached egg and sweet tea, wasn't an option. Instead, he soldiered on, hosting a dinner for athletes heading to the Olympics!
A more instructive precedent comes from the last American presidential election. President Joe Biden didn't catch COVID as he campaigned, but he did show a reluctance to go among the people - and he, of course, won.
While Mr Trump glad-handed among his adoring fans in rallies, Mr Biden appeared remotely from home via a screen, prompting the slur that he was "hiding alone in his basement". A Republican advert used a doctored picture of him to make him look more alone than he had been in the original photo.
Mr Biden's lack of out-on-the-streets visibility may even have been an asset, in that it showed that the eventual president was taking the pandemic seriously while the soon-to-be outgoing president wasn't. Biden was cautious and avoided COVID. Trump was incautious and didn't.
When Mr Trump did catch COVID, the seriousness of the infection was never revealed. It may have been mild or it may have been debilitating, but Mr Trump wasn't going to reveal anything as weak as being ill.
The result was a lot of speculation. As the Sky News US political commentator Joe Hockey put it at the time, Mr Trump was either sick with a deadly virus, or he was campaigning full time, but he will "burn up any good will from swinging voters" if he tries to do both and campaign from the hospital bed.
Mr Albanese's situation is different. Unlike in 2020, vaccines now mean that the illness can be - and often is - mild. Many people with it continue to work from home. Assuming there is no sudden deterioration, Mr Albanese has indicated that he will do the same.
Having said that, there are two unknowns. Given that this election may well turn on a few seats, would Mr Albanese's presence in them have tipped the local balance?
On the other hand, turning the Australian election into less of a presidential contest may also help Labor. It will become about the rest of the teams, beyond the leaders.
The complaint has occasionally been that the Labor leader lacks charisma (almost deliberately so if you believe the allegation that he has tried to be "a small target").
But his front bench, like Penny Wong and Jim Chalmers, are widely thought to have stature - big beasts in the political jungle.
And Mr Morrison may regret calling a six-week election. Within a week or two, depending on the illness, Mr Albanese should be up and running - with time to spare.
And perhaps with some sympathy for suffering the illness which is so much part of everyday life. That truly is the common touch.
Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
