While waiting for COVID-19 vaccines to be rolled out, Australian jurisdictions adopted strong social restrictions to minimise community transmission of the virus. It’s estimated that together, these public health measures spared around 50,000 lives up to December 2022 and that vaccines saved three times as many again. While this public health response the pandemic is described as one of the most effective in the world it did cause unintended social harms and lingering resentment. Our leaders and community need some sober reflection on how to we might respond to the next such pandemic respiratory virus. Over two podcasts we look carefully at the how the cost-benefit calculation stacks up for each of the major interventions. In Part 1 we discuss the international borders closures and overcooked parochialism between state jurisdictions, and also how messaging around vaccine risks and mandates could be improved. In Part 2 we look at the controversial stay-at-home orders and interruptions to in-person schooling and even the evidence for faces-masks. Ultimately, there are some questions that can’t be answered scientifically, and it is for politicians and the public to decide what the cost of freedom and dignity against human lives left exposed. Chapters Part 23:38 Social restrictions16:39 Facemasks21:19 Missing behavioural and epidemiological data30:35 Psychological morbidity from social restrictions 39:39 Human rights and moral preparedness GuestsProfessor Paul Kelly FRACP (Centenary Institute; Australia’s Chief Medical Officer during the pandemic) Professor Catherine Bennett PhD GAICD (Deakin University; lead author of the “COVID-19 Response Inquiry” ) Professor James McCaw PhD (The University of Melbourne; modeler for the Federal government’s “National Plan”)Lorraine Finlay PhD (Australian Human Rights Commissioner; lead author of the "Collateral Damage" report) Production Produced by Mic Cavazzini DPhil. Music licenced from Epidemic Sound includes ‘Organic Textures 2’ by Johannes Bornlöf, ‘RGBA’ by Chill Cole, ‘Axon Terminal’ by Out to the World, ‘Soundbed’ by Blue Saga, and ‘Echo (Kerstin Ljungstrom Remix)’ by Bonsaye. Music courtesy of FreeMusicArchive includes ‘Namaste’ by Jason Shaw. Image by Westend61 licenced from GettyImages. Add Part 2 to MyCPD as educational activity or visit web page for a transcript and references.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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