“SARS-CoV-2 jumped the species boundary into humans and is galloping from country to country along the richly tangled web of global connections that we have woven. This is a problem of our own creation. Fortunately, we now have more effective levers to bring it under control. New tools for rapid data collection and analysis make it easier to feed the right type of evidence into decision-makers’ hands.

This is not enough. A strategic forum to establish a harmonized global approach would help, as would embedding epidemiologists into policy shops where they haven’t traditionally been located, like urban planning departments in cities. Most importantly, decision-makers need to maintain public trust. This starts by listening to the science, adapting policies as new data comes to light, and explaining the changes clearly to the public.”