Don't pretend COVID-19 didn't happen

Just over 5 years ago, on New Year's Eve 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) became aware of the first cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan, China. A massive global infectious disease storm was already brewing-one that would shut down the world, with profound economic, social, and political impacts that still reverberate today. It's understandable that governments and individuals may want to forget that the COVID-19 pandemic ever happened, but such collective amnesia prevents humanity from being ready for the next pandemic. The world did the same in the 1920s, eager to move on from the devastation of the 1918 influenza pandemic. A repeat of this behavior squanders opportunities right now to institutionalize and embed best practices for current and future threats.