Experiences during COVID-19 help prepare for the next wave

One of the great unknowns about another COVID-19-like pandemic is when it will arrive. Experts say we have less than 100 years to prepare because climate change has created better breeding grounds for pandemic-causing viruses. Population increases and globalisation have made it a certainty.

One of the lessons from our pandemic experiences is that virus transmission alone should not dictate public health orders, and border closures must be informed by a nationally agreed framework.

A panel of experts convened by the Herald argued governments should not regard the health and economic outcomes as separate; they were intrinsically linked, and the economic damage from shutdowns and stay-at-home orders inevitably affected people’s health.

In the last of our three-part series looking at the impact of COVID-19 decision-making on education, health, border closures and lockdowns and policing, the final expert panel examined how COVID lockdowns were designed and enforced, chiefly in NSW, and found policymakers overlooked social cohesion and mental health factors when they made public health orders or closed borders to contain the spread of the virus.

The panel acknowledged the need to close borders to limit virus spread, but premiers’ decisions to close state borders proved especially divisive: people were unable to visit dying loved ones, children were separated from their parents for long periods, and Linda Scott, who as Local Government NSW president herded the state’s 128 councils during the pandemic, said some decisions were clearly unfair and it was wrong to underestimate the impact of certain decisions on social cohesion.

“We stopped people in western Sydney going outdoors in a way that was arguably worse for their health than we did in areas across the other side of the road,” Scott said.

A previous expert panel looking at the health ramifications warned that NSW was now even less prepared than in 2020, and lamented nothing had been done about sharing data or animal surveillance. It sensibly called for the establishment of a pandemic combat agency, and unfortunately noted the goodwill and sacrifice of healthcare workers had been eroded by workloads, transmission risks, violence and aggression. Many would not be up for it again.

The decline in respect for professionals was another pandemic hallmark. But the experts also urged politicians to be more transparent about public health advice before unilaterally enforcing restrictions.

On the education impact of the pandemic, the experts  said months-long mass school closures were not only unnecessary but should have been avoided in 2021. They led to a cascade of social and educational problems that threaten a generation of Australian children.

NSW has undertaken two inquiries into the pandemic, and while a federal government inquiry is examining some national responses, key policy measures imposed by states will not be properly scrutinised.

For nearly three years the Herald has supported a sweeping inquiry into our nation’s response. That drove our decision to sponsor the expert panels. We believe that asking uncomfortable questions about decision-making to prepare for the next pandemic is our public duty.

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