Review by Booklist Review
Every disaster movie starts with someone ignoring a scientist." Such cinematic foreshadowing now tragically applies to our present, actual reality. Science journalist MacKenzie delivers a wise and accurate account of the COVID-19 pandemic, supplying readers with an objective assessment of where we are, how we got here, and how to prepare for future emerging infections. Her discussion includes the origin of the virus (It comes from wildlife, as did Ebola and SARS.), the time line of its spread, public health actions, the world's reaction to the outbreak, and current research. Her verdict on the pandemic: "This was predicted, and could have been, to a large extent, prevented." Furthermore, "complacency and outright denial" impeded the response. MacKenzie's excellent coverage includes lurking pathogens (Be wary of the Nipah virus.), vaccine research and development, influenza, and system complexity and collapse. Learned lessons in pandemic planning, global surveillance, and rapid, coordinated response to viral outbreaks are emphasized. To put this challenge in perspective, the entire budget of the World Health Organization (WHO) is $2.4 billion yearly, while the U.S. spends $49 billion annually on nuclear weapons. MacKenzie warns, "The Covid-19 virus's waltz with humanity is just beginning." Surely one of the best books available about the virus that has altered how we live and work, worry and interact with others.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Veteran science journalist MacKenzie delves into the history of COVID-19, along with earlier outbreaks, in order to explain the unlearned lessons that contributed to the pandemic. She explains how, in 2013, the coronavirus was discovered by two labs; one in China, another in the United States. Warnings were issued of the threat posed to humans yet no action was taken. The author details reasons why the world was unprepared for this specific pandemic, and why humans remain unprepared for the next viral strains that will surely follow. Governments did not listen to the warnings and were, therefore, caught off guard when the pandemic emerged; the World Health Organization was limited in the scope of its action. MacKenzie does not attempt to answer all of the questions but emphasizes how it could have been prevented, that more pandemics will come and may be worse, and that we must use our experiences with COVID-19 to plan for the next emerging virus. She closes with a series of lessons for the future. VERDICT This readable, essential account for all readers will be of particular interest to anyone working in public health.--Rachel Owens, Daytona State Coll. Lib., FL
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
New Scientist journalist MacKenzie serves up a vivid account of the origins and fortunes of coronavirus, warning that worse may be yet to come. There are several takeaways in this sharp survey of the current (as of this writing) pandemic. The first is that, decidedly, not enough was done--not by China, which failed to alert the world to the arrival of the novel virus until well after it had spread outside the country; and certainly not by the U.S., whose government seemed to want to wish the virus away. "Once public health fails and contagion appears anywhere, it goes everywhere," writes the author. Even though COVID-19 (whose formal name is SARS-CoV--2) has shown some signs of abating, the pandemic has exposed gaping holes in the public health regimes of countries around the world, with a few exceptions--Hong Kong, for example, locked down early on and endured the plague with only 715 cases and four deaths as of the end of March 2020. Charting the etiology and course of the virus, MacKenzie observes that nearly everything about its origins and spread offers lessons on how not to act when the next pandemic comes. She goes on to warn that another pandemic is sure to come, perhaps soon, probably some variant of bird flu and, in any case, "worse than the one we are fighting now." The measures she suggests include better monitoring and reporting of emergent diseases, stockpiling supplies such as face masks and antibiotics to combat diseases that are already known to us, developing "surge capacity in manufacturing," and holding governments accountable for things said and promises made. For the conspiracy theorists in the crowd, MacKenzie also notes that "one thing we can say for sure: Covid-19 was not created in a lab." Essential, enlightening reading in a time of panic and plague. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
