Lockdowns and school closures are slammed in bombshell report into Australia’s Covid response

Australia cannot be counted on to take the same measures it took for COVID-19 when the next pandemic hits because people have lost trust in authority, a study into the country’s response to the crisis has found .

Rapidly setting up a national Center for Disease Control is a priority recommendation of a 670-page report released on Tuesday aimed at preparing Australia for future pandemics.

The research found that Australia fared better than other countries when it came to mortality rates and economic recovery.

But the response to the pandemic took a heavy toll on the country.

“People were working outside normal limits, and many of the public health professionals, frontline community service and healthcare workers, political leaders, health experts and government officials we relied on to get through the pandemic are no longer in their positions,” she said. the report.

‘This poses risks to our resilience to face a new crisis.’

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

But over time, the stresses of the pandemic and the lack of clear communication about why unpopular decisions were made caused community spirit to diminish.

“Confidence has also eroded and it is unlikely that many of the measures taken during COVID-19 will be accepted again by the population,” the report said.

In response, the report recommended that any future response to a public health emergency should take into account ‘fairness and proportionality in implementing and enforcing restrictive measures’.

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

In addition to a well-funded CDC to centralize future responses and communications, the review recommended taking a holistic approach to pandemic management, taking into account economic, social and equity impacts, as well as health consequences.

It found that vaccine mandates were effective in controlling the spread of the virus but have contributed to a reluctance among some people to get vaccinated since then.

“The combination of mandatory measures and people’s perception that they were unable to criticize or question government decisions and policies has contributed to non-mandated vaccination rates falling to dangerously low levels. ‘

The report also said states’ differing approaches caused mistrust.

“Initially, the National Cabinet was united in its approach, but this unity waned over the course of the pandemic and at times there were conflicting explanations of decisions by leaders, further fueling confusion and distrust,” it said.

‘While different approaches between states and territories might be appropriate where local circumstances or different population risk profiles required this, some differences were not easily explained and no justification was provided.

“This included state border closures that states unilaterally enacted and lacked consistency and compassion in implementation.”

The report shows that frameworks need to be introduced in peacetime so that decisions do not have to be made all at once, for example on the management of high-risk institutions such as schools and elderly care.

The report noted the strict enforcement tactics of NSW and Victoria.

“We heard that trust in police and health authorities was being eroded, had a disproportionate impact on specific population groups, reduced the likelihood of future compliant behavior and led to violence in some circumstances – such as the violent anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne and violent protests against the lockdown. threats against municipalities.’

People felt that Covid restrictions “became increasingly inappropriate in the long term, were too heavy-handed and too controlling, and that there was a lack of compassion and too few exceptions based on needs and circumstances,” the report said.

The impact of school closures on young Aussies was also highlighted.

‘School closures and remote learning also led to increased social media engagement, leading to weight and body control behaviors among some young people.

“Access to education is essential for the development of children and young people, and is a protective factor in mitigating negative consequences during a crisis,” the report said. ‘The consequences of disruptions to education for children and young people have been consistently discussed in the research.’

Closing schools – which were not recommended by health experts – caused long-term harm to children, given the inadequacy of substitute measures designed on the spot, leaving many schools unprepared to offer remote learning.

‘Research also suggests that lifestyle disruptions during lockdowns caused changes in brain biology in children and young people, with a greater impact on the female adolescent brain than on the male brain.’

Health Minister Mark Butler said the report was “thorough and considered” and vowed to implement its recommendations.

“We have a responsibility, especially as a government, we have a responsibility to examine our response to the pandemic, to learn what we did well, and especially to learn what we could have done better, and importantly, to to build this way. report describes it, a high-level playbook for the next pandemic – because we know there will be the next pandemic,” he said.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the impact of economic decisions made during the pandemic, such as JobKeeper, was still being felt.

‘Big decisions have been made and big mistakes have been made. Those mistakes were costly and inflationary,” he said.

“The lack of planning, delayed rollout and design choices of JobKeeper have exacerbated the skills shortage and inflationary pressures in our economy.”