The real issue, however, is that the aged care system is simply not fit for purpose in normal times and so was inevitably destined to fail when under this sort of extreme pressure.

Hunt on Tuesday praised the care his late father received in a home. “I cannot imagine better care that my family and my father could have got.”

But Andrews said “I wouldn’t want my mum in some of these places”, an observation many distraught families will relate to.

The interim report of the royal commission into aged care, released late last year, was scathing, declaring older people and their families were left “isolated and powerless in this hidden-from-view system”.

COVID has provided a tragic real time vindication of the commission’s observation.

View from The Hill: Aged care crisis reflects poor preparation and a broken system