Brett Sutton’s deputy steps up as state’s new chief health officer

Professor Brett Sutton’s deputy has officially taken the reins as Victoria’s new chief health officer, the day after his term expired.

A public health doctor who was Professor Brett Sutton’s deputy during the pandemic has taken the reins as Victoria’s new chief health officer.
Dr Clare Looker has been given a 12 month contract, after Prof Sutton’s term expired.

The new CHO thanked Prof Sutton for his “incredible contribution to Victoria” and said she was “excited and proud” to be taking on the role.

The Department of Health released a statement during the last CHO update on the coronavirus saying Dr Looker is “highly regarded in the field and has a strong background in public health medicine, particularly in communicable diseases, environmental health and epidemiology”.

Dr Looker has worked in clinical medicine and as an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and was an “Established Leader in the 2022 Victorian Public Sector Women Awards”.

It said the weekly update on Covid-19 was ending this week and said the “change reflects the global shift from the emergency pandemic response to managing Covid-19 as a significant respiratory virus”.

“The Victorian Department of Health will continue to report on key figures and trends online each week,” it says.

“Victoria maintains a comprehensive Covid-19 surveillance system, which includes analysis of hospitalised Covid-19 cases, mortality, wastewater surveillance, PCR results and range of other state and national surveillance systems.”

It says people can continue to protect themselves from the virus included wear a high-quality mask, getting a 2023 booster because new bivalent vaccines target Omicron variants, get tested if symptoms emerge, and open windows and doors when possible to reduce the spread of the virus.