AHPPC held first COVID-19 advisory meeting –

On January 29, 2020 the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) who provide advice to the Australian community during emergencies, held their first, of many weekly meetings, regarding COVID-19, following advice they receive form the Communicable Diseases Network Australia (CDNA). [1]

AHPPC is comprised of all state and territory Chief Health Officers and and is chaired by the Australian Chief Medical Officer who at the time was Professor Paul Kelly.

This group is equivalent to UK SAGE.

Pandemic preparedness was something Australia had in place for over a decade.  The Australian Health Management Plan for Pandemic Influenza (AHMPPI) (v. Aug 2019), and is template document to be used by government decision makers. The decision to formally escalate the AHMPPI through each of its stages will be made by the Chair of the AHPPC, in consultation with AHPPC members and with advice from advisory bodies.  Influenza and Coronaviruses are both respiratory viruses, yet AHPPC didn’t use the the AHMPPI plan.