The COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Lessons
Public health, with its goals of preventing disease, promoting health and prolonging life, comprises a complex system affecting almost every facet of life, both in health and disease. Because its activities are population-based, most of its work remains in the background, out of sight and many times out of mind—until a public health crisis occurs. COVID-19 was a perfect storm.
The Outbreak
In Wuhan, China, four unusual hospital cases of atypical viral pneumonia were reported to the local center for disease control on December 27, 2019. Globally, as of September 2024, COVID-19 had infected over 770 million people, resulting in more than 7 million reported deaths and lowering global life expectancy by 1.8 years.
The Public Health Crisis
Public health rests on both epidemiology and emergency preparedness. In an outbreak of an infectious disease, it is the science of epidemiology that defines the who, what, why, when and where of the response, while emergency preparedness planning provides the framework for that response, along with the flexibility and scalability to meet any disaster when it occurs.
What Happened in the USA?
In 2019, the US had scored the highest on the Global Health Security Index of Pandemic Preparedness. So how could a country that outranked 194 other countries suffer the third highest age-adjusted mortality among similarly ranked countries during the COVID pandemic? And why did the US also end up with the lowest vaccination rate among comparable countries? The answers are numerous and perhaps surprising.
What’s Next?
We know for certain we will have another pandemic; but we don’t know when or where it will begin.