Q+A

COVID-19: Where to Next? (2020x12)

: 20, 2020

Neville Power, Chairman, National COVID-19 Coordination Commission; Sally McManus, Secretary, ACTU; Simon Longstaff, Executive Director, The Ethics Centre; Gigi Foster, Economist, UNSW; and Jodie McVernon, Epidemiologist, Doherty Institute. Australia now faces some serious questions about the next phase of our battle to contain coronavirus. Recent data is encouraging – it seems physical distancing is working, and we’ve avoided the catastrophic start to the epidemic other countries have endured. With the curve now flattening, we face three scenarios . Total lockdown until there is a vaccine. Continue living in partial lockdown for 12 months or more, with the attendant social and economic damage to our economy and society. Or, thirdly, let the virus wash through the community and build herd immunity.