At the time the World Health Organisation was recommending no such thing. The head of WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, had even said travel restrictions could cause more harm than good. "This level of advice [from Murphy] took courage and gravity," Mr Hunt says. "The economic impact and shock was inconceivable at the time compared to where the world is now." Mr Hunt called the Prime Minister. "Brendan is just unbelievably frank, which is why the PM and I trust him completely," Mr Hunt says. "We all took a deep breath. The PM said convene the board of chief health officers." That day, Australia became one of the first countries in the world, along with Singapore and the US, to bar any foreigner who had recently been in China. Seven weeks later countries around the world are sealing their borders. Australia’s borders will close to all foreigners for six months. Outdoor gatherings of more than 500 people and non-essential indoor gatherings of more than 100 people have been banned. All non-essential activities in venues including cafes, pubs and clubs, are subject to a restriction of one person per every four square metres. Schools remain open - for now.

Professor Julie Leask, an expert in public health from the University of Sydney, believes the early decision to impose a travel ban on China bought Australia time to prepare for the coronavirus. "It’s heartening to see politicians standing by expert advice and making decisions based on the best assessment and evidence and application to Australia." Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy and Prime Minister Scott Morrison address the media. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen But others have been less sanguine. Thousands of doctors have signed petitions calling for more drastic lockdown measures including the closure of schools to avoid the calamity experienced in Italy. Professor Murphy has found himself under constant scrutiny, even criticised for shaking hands ahead of his appearance on ABC TV program Insiders last Sunday just hours before the Prime Minister decreed "no more handshakes".

Vocal critics have included strategic health policy adviser Bill Bowtell, who led Australia’s response to the HIV/AIDs crisis, and veteran ABC presenter Dr Norman Swan, who obtained his postgraduate qualifications in paediatrics. Some feel Dr Swan, a highly respected ABC commentator, has muddied the waters by arguing "We have got to stop, we've got to shut down schools." (Although on Friday he said if he had a school-age child he would be sending them to school because the risk was fairly low.) Shadow health minister Chris Bowen has recommended his Coronacast podcast and some health commentators on social media have said they consider Dr Swan more credible than the Chief Medical Officer. The president of WA’s Australian Medical Association, Andrew Miller, called for immediate closure of schools, saying doctors were losing confidence in the government’s response to the crisis. He was not alone. The dissent led Australia’s peak medical and public health organisations to warn conflicting advice from some health commentators was contributing to public uncertainty.

"Medical authoritative leadership at this time is crucial to help people understand and undertake the necessary difficult measures to protect the community from advancing the spread of the COVID-19," said Australian Medical Association president Tony Bartone. ABC chair Ita Buttrose said mixed messaging over COVID-19 – such as Victoria and the ACT declaring a four-week state of emergency while other messages had talked about a 14-day self-isolation period – was confusing the public. The Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton recommended buying enough food to last for two weeks, while Professor Murphy said last Sunday: "I think that’s a little bit premature at the moment." Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton recommended buying enough food to last for two weeks. Credit:Luis Ascui

Some – such as sustainability adviser Sam Mostyn – have called for a "single source of truth": a person or group who could deliver consistent information such as NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons had during the summer fires. Commissioner Fitzsimmons was considered an exemplar of leadership during one of Australia's worst bushfires on record, fronting media outlets with a calm, cut-through message. Others have questioned on social media whether Professor Murphy – who is due to become secretary of the Health Department when the crisis is over – is too close to the government. Mr Hunt contacted The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald to speak about Professor Murphy after learning of this piece. Despite multiple requests to speak to Professor Murphy we were told an interview would not be possible. However asked during a press conference if he was finding the pace of the job exhausting, Professor Murphy said it was "a cause that's worth pursuing, but it is pretty intense".

Loading "It is very intense, but it is such an important job to provide advice to our governments, collectively, and all of the state chief health officers, all of the experts we have, have been very consistent and unanimous in their advice," he said. The Prime Minister said they were working hard to keep up with him. He said medical experts were working very hard, had great responsibility and "deserve our great respect and support". "There's been quite a lot of commentary about them but, by all means, have a crack at politicians. We're used to it. We have broad shoulders," Mr Morrison said. "But I would ask you to support them. You can rely on them. I would ask you to rely on the decisions we're making." Professor Murphy began as a specialist in nephrology (kidney health) and then became chief medical officer for St Vincent's Health in Victoria. He sat on the boards of Health Workforce Australia, the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute and the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

Prior to his appointment as Chief Medical Officer in 2016 he was the chief executive officer of Austin Health in Victoria. He is married to Professor Sally Walker, a former vice-chancellor of Deakin University, with whom he has two children, Alex and Ben. The Grattan Institute’s Health Program director, Dr Stephen Duckett, says Professor Murphy has been a health bureaucrat for many decades. "I would not have seen him as a political appointment," he said. Dr Duckett believes Professor Murphy has made some good calls, such as the China travel restrictions, but has also made mistakes. He said the government was slow to impose a ban on travel from Italy, for example. "I think [Professor Murphy] has been a good communicator," Dr Duckett says. "But ideally Australia would have an independent public health agency nationally which can make some of these decisions and provide single unified leadership in this area."

Professor Murphy is chair of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, made up of the federal chief medical officer and state chief health officers, which provides advice to government on how to respond to the outbreak. The committee has been meeting daily. "This is a truly national response – key decisions are only made with the agreement of the AHPPC," a Health Department spokesman said. "Establishing a National Centre for Disease Control would not add anything to Australia’s proven capacity to effectively respond to national communicable disease outbreaks, and additional structures could risk overlap and duplication with existing communicable disease control functions."

Monash University’s Professor Allen Cheng, a specialist in infectious diseases who is an adviser to the committee, says Professor Murphy comes up with a consensus position after listening to expert advice. "He may not have a background in infectious diseases – chief medical officers don’t necessarily need to be an expert in every area – but what is important is they take advice from people who are," Professor Cheng says. "I’m not giving away state secrets – there is robust discussion and people have different opinions. It’s a difficult time – I think he has been trying to take a very sensible and balanced line." Professor Cheng also points to a rapidly changing picture. Just two weeks ago, he says, no one could have imagined limiting the size of public gatherings. Mr Hunt says it was Professor Murphy who pushed for the ban on mass gatherings of more than 500, a policy he said was brought forward three or four weeks.

"He presented to a group of completely stunned premiers who were not ready for this," Mr Hunt said. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The decision to keep schools open – for now – has been one of the most hotly debated in the community. Schools in the UK closed on Friday after the government dropped its controversial approach to allow COVID-19 to spread naturally in order to build up the population’s herd immunity. Professor Murphy said on Insiders there had been very few reports of symptomatic infection in children and while they might spread it in schools "it also creates a herd immunity".

Bill Bowtell, an adjunct professor at the University of NSW, said China had managed to control the spread of COVID-19 using strict containment measures, including the closure of schools. China reported no new domestic transmissions for the first time on March 19. Professor Jodie McVernon has been advising the government. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "The federal government’s policy of not shutting schools should not go into next week," Professor Bowtell said. "Schools must be repurposed into child care centres so the children of frontline personnel and those who cannot be at home can be looked after."

Mr Hunt said there was "complete and utter unanimity" among Professor Murphy and the state and territory chief health officers to keep the schools open for now. Doherty Institute epidemiologist Professor Jodie McVernon, who advises the government, said there were lots of questions about how well children would comply with social distancing measures if schools did close. She also said closures would impact on the workforce and expose vulnerable groups - such as grandparents who may be called in to babysit - to the virus. "Children very rarely get severe infections with this virus, it’s not like the flu," she said. Professor McVernon said school closures could be implemented at some point but warned if they closed it could be a long time before they did reopen.

"This isn’t about a one-month lockdown and all will go away, it is about measures that can be sustained. None of these decisions are taken lightly." Loading Sydney University’s Professor Leask is a public health expert who studied the communication of pandemic management between 2006 and 2010. "For clinicians to come out lately and say ‘this is the wrong approach’ is perhaps understandable because they are anxious about what’s ahead, but I think they need to recognise there are top experts informing government decision-making," she says. However Professor Leask believes there has been a lack of transparency in communicating why decisions have been made.

She said in the beginning there was not enough explanation about why schools were staying open and people were told not to panic and to stop stockpiling toilet paper. She says this fuelled community anxiety and allowed other voices to be heard in a vacuum. "It’s scary for governments to be transparent in times of uncertainty when they don’t have all the facts. However ultimately I think it would result in more public trust."