But that didn't last long.

The Victorian Liberal Opposition was the first to seek political capital from the pandemic, making ludicrous claims against their government's lockdown decisions.

The Queensland Liberal Opposition then turned up the heat in that state, urging borders to reopen to allow for tourists to return.

In Tasmania, the Labor Opposition started off by offering bipartisanship on crucial public health matters, but has since been pressuring the government to set hard and fast dates on border reopening announcements. As cases stopped being detected in May, there was a premature focus on when the borders would reopen to kickstart the tourism sector.

The speed at which the dangers of the highly infectious and lethal COVID-19 were shunted to the background was rapid. During this crisis, Tasmania's island status has been its greatest asset - we can't lose sight of that.

The situation in Melbourne has proven just how important it is to follow public health advice to the very letter. If public health officials say it's still too early to reopen the borders, and that setting future dates is inadvisable, we must follow that advice.

Community transmission can get out of control very quickly, and when it does, it can set a region back by months in the recovery process and cost lives.

But that isn't to say governments should be immune from rigorous scrutiny.

The admission that contractors were allowed to enter the state as "essential travellers" to finish off Hobart's Crowne Plaza prompted appropriate questioning by the media. For Premier Peter Gutwein to call this a "witch hunt" was a rapid return to the bad old days of the government seemingly beholden to the powerful hoteliers lobby.

Let's keep health advice apolitical, but not use it as a shield to defend against legitimate questions.