<
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-13/mary-louise-mclaws-renowned-epidemiologist-dies/102724932>
'In the darkest days of the pandemic — when people didn't know whether to wash
the canned goods they'd brought home from the supermarket or buy a gas mask so
they could safely exercise for one hour a day — epidemiologist and infection
control expert Professor Mary-Louise McLaws became the most trusted,
compassionate and calming voice of reason in the lives of many Australians.
Professor McLaws, or Mary-Lou, or ML as she signed herself, was a nationally
loved and recognisable hero of those dark times. Seated in front of her
funky-coloured bookcases in countless television interviews, her hair in a
sleek bob, her eyes sharply framed, she spoke always in those reassuring and
mellifluous tones that became for many the only ones they wanted to hear.
When confusion or dissent in the public health response to COVID-19 boiled over
in the national conversation, time and again, members of the public would ask
on programs like mine, "But what does Mary-Louise McLaws think?"
The renowned epidemiologist and University of New South Wales professor died
peacefully in her sleep on Saturday night, 18 months after being diagnosed with
and treated for a brain tumour. She was 70 years old. When she announced her
diagnosis, the public outpouring of grief was real and visceral: the bitter
unfairness of a disease that never discriminates targeting this beloved figure
hit hard. She had felt like a dear friend to so many.'
Via
Guardian Australia
RIP,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
