During the pandemic, Australians became accustomed to elbow bumps, disinfecting groceries, and endless hand sanitiser; measures now described by the man who led Victoria’s Covid-19 response as largely unnecessary.

Professor Brett Sutton, the former Victorian chief health officer who engineered one of the world’s toughest pandemic strategies, has spoken candidly about the lessons learned, what went wrong, and what could be done differently next time.

“Touching elbows was probably never necessary. They’re the things thst we learn as we go,” Professor Sutton told the Neil Mitchell Asks Why podcast.

“And through a hundred years of understanding infectious diseases, we overemphasised the idea that it’ll pass through surfaces or handshakes or droplets spread when the reality was, it’s in our

See Full Page