Chair of the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Jane Halton says Australia must be ready to respond swiftly and proportionately to future outbreaks of coronavirus, because “there is no doubt” future outbreaks will occur.

“We’re going to have the occasional outbreak,” Ms Halton told Sky News host Chris Kenny.

“If you look at the improvement in the standards of quarantine, certainly since I did my review, that’s really, really welcome.

“But yes, we have to be ready and we have to be able to respond. But not…with an unbelievably heavy hand.

“We need to handle things in a proportionate way, but we need to handle them quickly and effectively.”