It’s been five years since the world came to a sudden halt. Outbreaks of a deadly coronavirus — first in China, then in Italy and Iran, and then seemingly everywhere at once — prompted the World Health Organization to declare the virus a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, bringing the full scope of danger into clear view.
We could not know what would follow — the unimaginable death toll, the hardship of isolation and the fraying of our social fabric — nor could we predict the heroism and courage of those who worked tirelessly to protect public health, help their neighbors and save lives.
But five years on, we are less prepared for another outbreak, which scientists say is inevitable in an ever-changing world. So it is valuable to consider what we learned, what mistakes were made, and what’s needed to protect us in the future.
The New York Times reported, on Jan. 1, 2020, about a respiratory illness that had sickened scores of people in Wuhan, China. Authorities there were tight-lipped about the scope and severity of the disease — silence that would imperil the world — but it was evident early on that this was no ordinary flu strain affecting one of China’s most populous cities.
In mere weeks, the WHO declared the virus a global emergency as other countries reported cases. Travel restrictions were imposed, and screenings at transit centers — airports, train stations — sought to contain the spread. But the insidious nature of the illness rendered those efforts fruitless.