Crazy thoughts?
What do you think "this type" of pandemic is? A pandemic is a pandemic. There is nothing special about "this type" of pandemic that should have allowed anyone to dismiss it as a "serious possibility that couldn't happen in our lifetimes". As pointed out previously, there were THREE pandemics during Obama's time in office alone. Can we please stop feeding the myth of "oh, this is something that we could not possibly have imagined or prepared for"? We absolutely could have, would have, and should have been prepared for this.
"We know so little about how it spreads and how contagious it was"? We were warned about how contagious it was in January. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but is Coronavirus spread by any "new and unusual methods"? Does a face-hugger attach itself to your mouth and lay an egg in your stomach, and then explode out of your abdomen when it hatches?
Here's a thought. Coronvirus spreads by all of the normal methods. Human contact. Bodily fluids. Etc. etc. etc. It doesn't matter if someone tells you to wear a mask or not wear a mask, it is ALWAYS good to wear a mask. Most Asian countries have been taking this precaution for years.
Why are you blaming WHO? They were notified by China in late December. They were disseminating information in January, within weeks. If you insist on blaming China, I can't stop you, but AT MOST China screwed around for 10 weeks. WHO didn't waste any time.
Nobody is blaming politicians for every aspect of this. But on issues of planning, coordinating, and responding, it is a very fair assessment to blame the federal government, which actually had the intel in January.
This isn't the first pandemic ever, and it won't be the last. The myths of "oh, we didn't know" and "oh, how could we know/prepare" need to be destroyed once and for all.
This is the new reality. Pandemics could happen at any time. We need to be prepared, and we need to stop making an excuse every time there is a "new" (actually, a new mutation) of a virus or a flu.