The Atlantic: Coronavirus Is Spreading Because Humans Are Healthier
Thomas J. Bollyky, director of the global health program at the Council on Foreign Relations

“…[S]hoe-leather public health and basic medical care — not miracle drugs — are generally what stop outbreaks of emerging infections like severe-acute respiratory syndrome and the Ebola virus. … Humanity’s progress against infectious diseases is neither free nor irreversible. …  If the latest outbreak spreads to poorer nations in Africa or South America, it will become a pandemic, difficult for even the most prepared nations to control. This particular outbreak may have been hard to predict in advance, but the threat that a novel virus would pose to fast-urbanizing nations with underdeveloped health systems was not. Only investment in health care systems, responsive governance, and the international architecture needed to prevent, detect, and respond to future outbreaks can prepare the world for threats like COVID-19. The historic improvements in global health over the last several decades are an opportunity, not a guarantee” (2/12).