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🚨This is what's keeping me up at night: What if a second pandemic happened on top of the current one? Here's an attempt to answer that question. The longer the US struggles against one virus, the more vulnerable it becomes to others. 1/

theatlantic.com/health/archive…
I first wondered about a double-pandemic in March--and dismissed it. It felt alarmist, and I reasoned that a world that was effectively fighting one virus should be well-suited to beat down a second. But, er, <looks around> I'm less confident now. 2/

theatlantic.com/health/archive…
COVID-19 shows us what happens when even wealthy countries are inadequately prepared for rare but ruinous events. So we *have* to prepare for future ones--now. Further pandemics are inevitable: the question is when they'll hit.

theatlantic.com/health/archive…
In some ways, the US *is* more prepared in that many of the measures that work for one respiratory virus--social-distancing, masks--would help prevent the spread of another. 4/

theatlantic.com/health/archive…
But also: testing, hospitals, health-care workers, public health, and the scientific workforce are already maxed out. "All the resources we would normally use to detect potential viruses of concern have been redirected for COVID-19." - @sauer929 5/

theatlantic.com/health/archive…
And even without another emergent virus, fingers crossed, we will STILL have the regular flu season, rising rates of preventable diseases because COVID paused so much health-care, and all the pre-existing health problems that made this pandemic worse. 6/

theatlantic.com/health/archive…
Here's the crux: Failing to control COVID-19 has consequences, and not just more infections/disability/deaths, but also growing vulnerability to other viruses & disasters. I know no one wants to contemplate things getting worse, but we have to. 7/

theatlantic.com/health/archive…
Fwiw, I get why some ppl think this is an alarmist thing to write about. I might have said the same thing months ago. You know who isn't saying that, though? The pandemics/preparedness folks I spoke to. This is something they think/worry about. 8/

theatlantic.com/health/archive…
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Ed Yong
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🚨I wrote about the mental and emotional toll that the pandemic is taking on public health experts, who’ve been running on fumes for months, and who are deeply frustrated with shouting empirical advice into a political void. 1/ theatlantic.com/health/archive…
These folks are used by now to sharing expertise w/ journalists; less so to talking about themselves. I wanted to find out what they’re going through. Many told me they’re honored to be able to help. But many are also close to burning out. 2/ theatlantic.com/health/archive…
There’s the physical toll of relentless work & little sleep. There’s also the psych burden of working in preparedness—constantly staring at society’s vulnerabilities, imagining the worst futures, and worst of all, seeing those futures come to pass. 3/ theatlantic.com/health/archive…
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Ed Yong
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Three months ago, I paused book leave to return to the Atlantic for fulltime pandemic reporting. Here's a thread of 5 big pieces I've written since.

1) A sweeping look at how we got here, what must happen next, & the possible aftermath.

theatlantic.com/health/archive…
2) On the difficult summer ahead, why reopening must be (should have been?) careful, and the need for psychological resilience in the face of a persistent crisis that *won't be over in a few months*:

theatlantic.com/health/archive…
3) On the many reasons why the pandemic is mired in confusion, inc. the novelty of the virus, the muddled messaging, the easily misinterpreted stats, & the nature of modern expertise. (This doubles as a guide to how science actually works.)

theatlantic.com/health/archive…
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Ed Yong
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Thanks to everyone who read and shared this story. I learned so much while reporting it and I want to share some other relevant writing for folks who want to read more about the issues in my piece.

This piece by @brianvastag and @rndNumGen goes deeper into the overlap between covid long-haulers and ME/CFS, and on research into that overlap.

washingtonpost.com/health/could-c…
This essay by @felicitycallard, one of the long-haulers in my piece, on what “mild” means and how it’s used, is just a fantastic piece of scholarship. Highly recommended.

somatosphere.net/2020/mild-covi…
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