COVID-19

Περίληψη

In a gripping, accessible narrative, a veteran science journalist lays out the
shocking story of how the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic happened and how
to make sure this never happens again
Over the last 30 years of epidemics and pandemics, we learned every lesson needed to
stop this coronavirus outbreak in its tracks. We heeded almost none of them. The result is
a pandemic on a scale never before seen in our lifetimes. In this captivating,
authoritative, and eye-opening book, science journalist Debora MacKenzie lays out the full
story of how and why it happened: the previous viruses that should have prepared us, the
shocking public health failures that paved the way, the failure to contain the outbreak, and
most importantly, what we must do to prevent future pandemics.
Debora MacKenzie has been reporting on emerging diseases for more than three
decades, and she draws on that experience to explain how COVID-19 went from a
potentially manageable outbreak to a global pandemic. Offering a compelling history of
the most significant recent outbreaks, including SARS, MERS, H1N1, Zika, and Ebola, she
gives a crash course in Epidemiology 101--how viruses spread and how pandemics end--
and outlines the lessons we failed to learn from each past crisis. In vivid detail, she takes
us through the arrival and spread of COVID-19, making clear the steps that governments
knew they could have taken to prevent or at least prepare for this. Looking forward,
MacKenzie makes a bold, optimistic argument: this pandemic might finally galvanize the
world to take viruses seriously. Fighting this pandemic and preventing the next one will
take political action of all kinds, globally, from governments, the scientific community, and
individuals--but it is possible.