This is who to blame for the COVID-19 pandemic

摘要

In the first phase of the pandemic, the virus was expected to enter other countries from China. The governments of those countries were getting prepared for that entry. Some took it more seriously, others less so. But at least the aim was pretty clear back then. Epidemiologists understood the threat and prepared their first line of defence. It consisted of identifying all those infected through testing and isolating all their contacts. This was going to prevent the virus from spreading freely among the population. The first line of defence was supposed to hold back the virus for as long as possible. In February 2020, most of the countries still hoped that this pandemic would be fully controllable in this way [1].