Australia's former deputy chief medical officer, Dr Nick Coatsworth has called on Australia to prepare for the return of COVID-19 cases as we gradually re-open our borders. The infectious disease expert made the bold claim that Australians could not continue to live in a pandemic "eliminationist bunker" and said that the full eradication of the virus was a "false idol," as reported by Fairfax. "It is clear we will not have our borders closed indefinitely," he said speaking at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeon's annual scientific meeting. "We will not have quarantine stations in perpetuity while we aim for the false idol of eradication."