Quiet hero of Australia’s COVID success leaves job
Australia’s outgoing top medical adviser says he’s “very confident” he leaves the role with the country “on track” to reopening and keeping the coronavirus curve flat.
NSW
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Australia’s outgoing top medical adviser says he’s “very confident” he leaves the role with the country “on track” to reopening and keeping the coronavirus curve flat.
Brendan Murphy ended his tenure as chief medical officer yesterday to assume a new role as secretary of the Department of Health, a move delayed by several months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Australia became one of the most successful countries in the world to suppress the deadly virus in large part due to the major decisions Prof Murphy oversaw in the early days of the outbreak in Wuhan.
Under his leadership, Australia was one of the first nations to declare COVID-19 a disease of pandemic potential and defied the World Health Organisation by closing our border to China.
Prof Murphy has since become a household name, regularly appearing on television during the health crisis.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison paid tribute to Prof Murphy, thanking him for his “outstanding leadership” and “unfailing advice”.
“He’s been in the living rooms of Australians for many months and … you have been a person of great assurance to Australians with your calm way of explaining what are often very complex things,” he said.
“You’ve given Australians, I think, a great peace of mind.”
Originally published as Quiet hero of Australia’s COVID success leaves job