Australia announced on Thursday an investigation into its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and in particular the drastic travel restrictions or the slow implementation of the vaccination campaign.
The country imposed some of the strictest travel restrictions in the world during the pandemic, closing its foreign borders for two years and isolating most major cities for months.
“It was a very troubling time in our lives. But we got through it,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters.
“We need to look at what worked well and what could be improved by focusing on the future.”
The strategy worked for much of the pandemic, but the relaxation of rules led to a spike in cases detected. However, the high vaccination rate of the population has limited the number of deaths.
The independent inquiry, which will last 12 months, will examine the federal government’s policies, the government said.
This includes the provision of vaccines, treatments and essential medical equipment, financial assistance to individuals and businesses, psychological assistance and assistance to Australians overseas.
Some Australian states have already published their own surveys.
The New South Wales investigation found “serious” errors were made when thousands of passengers were allowed to disembark the Ruby Princess cruise ship in Sydney on March 19, 2020, before their test results were available. Covid-19 is not available, triggering a hearing epidemic wave.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the country of 26 million people has recorded more than 11 million cases of Covid-19 and 22,800 deaths since January 2020.