Flying blind: why we know so little about the real danger posed by the coronavirus

By Rob Verkerk PhD, founder, executive & scientific director, ANH-Intl

Few can argue our lives haven’t been turned upside down by the pandemic. Those who’ve lost family members or loved ones are more likely to relate the cause as the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Others will say it’s the result of government actions that have precipitated a swathe of collateral damage from skyrocketing unemployment, to business closures, disrupted education, spiralling mental health problems – and much more.

Still – the majority accept it all, tolerating in the main, the rapid transition towards totalitarian regimes that make it ever harder for people to exercise what were — in so-called democracies, until around a year ago — fundamental and protected rights and freedoms.

We’re all more likely to accept such tumultuous change in the political order if we’re deeply threatened by an alien force or an invisible infection. While past US president Barack Obama has been somewhat vocal about both of late (here and here), it is this invisible pathogen that, probably for the majority, has become the focus of their fear.