Another pandemic is not so much 'possible' as inevitable. Having read Laurie Garrett's book The Coming Plague about 30 years ago it seems to me that the most surprising aspect of the COVID10 pandemic is that it took so long for it to happen.
We are a species that dominates the plant and its other flora and fauna, as well as modifying our planet's climatic systems, we travel across the globe rapidly and in large numbers and much of our population resides in close proximity in massive numbers. We've abused the pharmaceuticals that are our current first line of defence against bacterial infections (i.e. antibiotics), denied many of quality medical care due to economic factors and our encroachment into wilderness areas together with industrial farming methods have compromised our food quality and choice of diet. Many consume a highly refined and chemically laden diet with first world health issues being rife as a result, and now we're tinkering with our foods and bodies on a cellular level. And it's taken this long for a virus to evolve to the point where it can overrun millions of humans.... colour me surprised!
Laurie covered all these factors and much more in her book. Her comments over the course of COVID's effects have been enlightening and predictable with the inept and poorly implemented US response (under Trump) being the primary factor that she wasn't prepared for.
We have other major health disasters headed our way but relying on the clickbait driven news channels isn't the best way of monitoring such situations, and that doesn't mean YouTube experts are the solution as their motives are similarly unreliable.
We are a species that dominates the plant and its other flora and fauna, as well as modifying our planet's climatic systems, we travel across the globe rapidly and in large numbers and much of our population resides in close proximity in massive numbers. We've abused the pharmaceuticals that are our current first line of defence against bacterial infections (i.e. antibiotics), denied many of quality medical care due to economic factors and our encroachment into wilderness areas together with industrial farming methods have compromised our food quality and choice of diet. Many consume a highly refined and chemically laden diet with first world health issues being rife as a result, and now we're tinkering with our foods and bodies on a cellular level. And it's taken this long for a virus to evolve to the point where it can overrun millions of humans.... colour me surprised!
Laurie covered all these factors and much more in her book. Her comments over the course of COVID's effects have been enlightening and predictable with the inept and poorly implemented US response (under Trump) being the primary factor that she wasn't prepared for.
We have other major health disasters headed our way but relying on the clickbait driven news channels isn't the best way of monitoring such situations, and that doesn't mean YouTube experts are the solution as their motives are similarly unreliable.
(23-03-2023, 11:51 AM)C_T_Russell Wrote: I just cant help but think where our health system could have been right now if the money wasted on covid was put into upgrading our hospitals.So you're promoting a 'let it run' strategy then? The health sector would be in total ruin by now with 40,000+ dead NZers going by where that approach lead for other countries.