URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — The COVID-19 pandemic came into focus around five years ago — causing shutdowns across the country. Now, public health researchers at the University of Illinois are trying to figure out what lessons they can learn — and how they can be used in the future.

Becky Smith is a professor of epidemiology. She said the shutdowns were successful in keeping hospitals from being flooded with patients. But — she thinks the federal government could have used that time to build a better test for the virus– and understand its transmission quicker.

Smith’s biggest takeaway was the erosion of trust between public health officials — and the general public.

“There were a lot of miscommunications that were made early on, especially with masks that early on people said, ‘no, you don’t need masks.'” Smith said. “And then we when we came out and said, ‘yes, you do need masks. Okay, you need better masks,’ people were a little bit uncertain because, ‘were you lying to me before that?'”

Smith said there’s always a chance for another pandemic. She hopes trust can be built back with the community before then so credible information can be passed along.