Black
Hole: A cosmic body of intense gravity from which nothing, not even light can
escape. (britannica.com)
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is
only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more so that we may fear
less.”
—Marie Curie (Awarded Nobel
Prize in Physics-1903, and Chemistry-1911)
"I know what I have to do now,
I've got to keep breathing because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what
the tide could bring?"
—Tom Hanks
character, Chuck Noland, from the movie, “Cast Away” (after being stranded on
an island for 4 years.)
For the
last few months the nation and the world have been engulfed in a “black hole.”
Forced into isolation and fear by a relentless virus, we have been reeling in
limbo with the pervasive question— What lies on the other side?
Unfortunately
history has shown that at times it takes a crisis to learn painful lessons. As
we begin to reopen society and commerce it’s time to figure out what went wrong,
regroup, and move forward. We need to make the investment of resources and time to prepare and
prevent rather than being forced to respond and improvise without a well-conceived strategy.
Virologists
have told us that the arrival of new and recurring viruses is here to stay—the
product of climate change, animal to human transmission, and population density/
migration.
Will we be prepared for the next wave?
It’s going
to take a concerted worldwide effort of coordination, cooperation, and equity
in the areas of health, education, economics, and environmental policy.
We now know
that we need factual, science-based information, up-to-date equipment properly stored
in catastrophe-ready quantities, a well-devised master plan for implementation of
testing/tracking/ isolation/treatment and vaccine development, contingency plans to
provide compensation for workers who are incapacitated or laid off, resources
for underserved populations, and mental health services for a society coping
with anxiety driven by fear and uncertainty.
