Preparing for the Covid New Reality

Preparing for the Covid New Reality There is one simple conclusion to be drawn from the Covid-19 crisis: the human being as a species is incapable of dealing adequately with a global pandemic Some of us had higher expectations of humankind this time around. I didn't. I have been covering pandemic events for decades. I covered SARS in 2002, Influenza A H1N1 in 2009, MERS since 2012, EVD in 2013-2016 and now this new one, Covid-19. Only the Influenza A ("Swine Flu") and Covid made it to global pandemic status, joining Hong Kong Flu (1968) and Asian Flu (1957) as global health crises which our grandparents will remember. In reporting the events after 2002, all I had to do was copy and paste large chunks of pieces I had written about SARS, basically because the policymakers followed the same guidelines: Advising "vigilance" and "reporting", not advising any travel or trade restrictions and watching the thing like a voyeur as it spread through the six pandemic stages until Voilà! We have a global pandemic, now who is going to make a mint out of the medication or vaccine?