It refers to the need to keep sensible safeguards in place despite the success in bringing the virus under control.

This sentiment shouldn't overshadow another just as important in terms of helping families and individuals survive the crisis financially, and to letting Australia bounce back.

Governments "shouldn't take their foot off the economic stimulus accelerator too soon" either.

Our economy needs to be nursed back to good health. Containing the virus won't fix that on its own.

When the IMF released its latest economic outlook forecast in mid-April it described the shock to the global economy as the worst since the Great Depression.

The outlook is now, if anything, even worse, and earlier assessments that this would take up to six months to play out, look optimistic.

This is the era of globalisation; the economy is hostage to what is happening elsewhere.

International travel won't resume on anything like its pre-COVID-19 scale until later in 2021 at the earliest.

Given there was a strong push for economic stimulus even before the bushfires and the pandemic, the national cabinet needs to take a longer term view of the support measures put in place to help Australians affected by the crisis.

The doubling of the JobSeeker payment (aka Newstart) was initially flagged as a temporary measure to support millions of families and individuals who lost their incomes. It was also an admission of the inadequacy of the payment.

Any ideologically driven attempt to wind it back once the crisis is deemed to be over must be opposed. This government has won praise for its handling of the health side of this crisis. It will make history if it manages the economic recovery with same degree of success.