Lessons from COVID 19: for now, and in the future

COVID-19 is the biggest global crisis and challenge of our time, with an unparalleled impact on our economies, education, health and everyday lives. Governments have been forced to respond under immense time pressures to protect their people, economies and borders. Their responses will have long-term impacts, not only for now but also for the future. As already argued (Reupert, 2021), the current pandemic is unlikely to be the last global health crisis we face. Moreover, the impacts of the pandemic will not end, once the vaccine has been fully rolled out. Hence, it is incumbent on governments and indeed, for the readership of this journal, to learn from this pandemic, and respective countries’ responses, and take those lessons into the future. From my point of view, there are five clear lessons that we can take away from this pandemic. These lessons also resonate with the papers of the present issue.