Lack of trust challenge for next pandemic: COVID review

[Pelican Press 0]

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Lack of trust challenge for next pandemic: COVID review

Australia cannot count on using the same measures it put in place for COVID-19 when the next pandemic hits because people have lost trust in authority, an inquiry into the nation’s response to the crisis has found.

Quickly establishing a national Centre for ******** Control (CDC) is a priority recommendation of a 670-page report released on Tuesday, intended to prepare Australia for future pandemics.

The review found Australia fared better than other countries when considering its mortality rate and economic recovery.

But the pandemic response took a severe toll on the nation.

“People worked beyond normal limits, and many of the public health professionals, frontline community service and health staff, political leaders, health experts and public servants we relied on to get through the pandemic are no longer in their positions,” the report said.

“This poses risks to our resilience to face another crisis.”

Part of the reason Australia was able to respond relatively quickly and successfully was a willingness among people to put the community ahead of their own self-interest.

But over time, the strain of the pandemic and absence of clear communication about why unpopular decisions were being made caused that community spirit to wane.

“Trust has also been eroded, and many of the measures taken during COVID-19 are unlikely to be accepted by the population again,” the report said.

The review was led by former NSW Department of Health director-general Robyn Kruk, Deakin University’s chair in epidemiology Catherine Bennett and health economist Angela Jackson.

As well as a well-funded CDC to centralise future responses and communications, the review recommended taking a holistic approach to pandemic management that considers economic, social and equity, as well as health impacts.

It found vaccine mandates were effective at controlling the spread of the virus but has contributed to a reluctance among some people to get vaccinated since.

Frameworks should be put in place in peacetime so that decisions don’t have to be made on the fly, for example with how to manage high-risk settings like schools and aged care.

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