It’s been two years to the day since COVID-19 was first detected in Australia.

A man who had just come from the epicentre of the outbreak, Wuhan in China.

Hours later, three more cases were recorded in New South Wales.

It’s a moment in time Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt remembers well.

“I remember the advice from Professor Murphy … who was the Chief Medical Officer at the time,” he told Jim Wilson on 2GB Drive.

“He had talked to me about the disease on the 20th of January, and said that he intended to list it as a disease of pandemic potential.

“He did so on the 21st … and so we were not surprised, but we were very, very aware that action needed to be taken.”

Mr Hunt said the decision to close the border with China was “inconceivable” at the time.

“It was one of the weightiest decisions that I’ve ever been part of,” he said.

“But the Prime Minister was really clear, I remember it at the time ‘is this a real risk, is it a risk to Australia, do we need to do this, then we will do this’.

“He had the sense of steadiness all the way through.”

Press PLAY to hear from Greg Hunt below

Photo by Rohan Thomson/Getty Images