Forbes January 13, 2021
Public health experts Sarah Wetter and Lawrence Gostin explain how the lessons of Covid-19 can better prepare us for the next pandemic.
The year 2020 was marked by a timeless battle between Mother Nature and human ingenuity. SARS-CoV-2 emerged as the perfect biological storm. The coronavirus spread exponentially, but its hosts often remained asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, able to socialize, while sending the most vulnerable to their death beds. The relatively low death rate was also fuel for decision-makers to ignore the science behind ending the outbreak, failing to conduct basic public health measures like testing, tracing, and social distancing. Masks became a political symbol.
Yet modern science and human ingenuity have proven worthy contenders against SARS-CoV-2. Within a single...