A national inquiry into Australia’s COVID-19 response has found that trust has been eroded, health systems are struggling, and inflation pressures from pandemic stimulus are still hurting the economy almost five years after the first COVID-19 case was detected. Source: The Age.
The Morrison government acted quickly to shut the border and introduce wage subsidies, but its delays in procuring COVID-19 vaccines cost lives and delivered a $31 billion hit to the economy, while more than $210 billion in federal government stimulus has contributed to inflation that continues to drive up housing costs.
The findings of the Australian Government inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic were released yesterday.
The year-long inquiry was commissioned by the Albanese Government and was compiled by an independent panel led by senior public servant Robyn Kruk, economist Angela Jackson and infectious disease expert Catherine Bennett.
It found Australia fared well during the pandemic compared to other countries that experienced a larger loss of life, health system collapse and more severe economic downturns.
But there could have been less collateral damage.
Almost five years later, it found children were still suffering from mental health and academic consequences of school closures, people are now more reluctant to receive vaccines, elective surgery backlogs still plague hospitals, and frontline workers are burnt out.
Health Minister Mark Butler said the reviewers had not pulled any punches.
“To use the words of the report, our response to the pandemic was not as effective as it could have been,” he said. “The striking conclusion … is that right now, we are arguably worse-placed as a country to deal with a pandemic than we were in early 2020.”
Mr Butler said public trust had been so broken by 2021 that many measures implemented during the pandemic were unlikely to be accepted by the population again.
FULL STORY
‘Worse-placed than in 2020’: Where Australia’s pandemic response went wrong (By Shane Wright and Natassia Chrysanthos, The Age)
RELATED COVERAGE
Review of COVID response finds Australians unlikely to accept lockdowns again (ABC News)
