People keep saying COVID-19 is a & #39;black swan& #39; event - completely unexpected. Then there& #39;s this, from 2013 by @kakape: "This shows, that right now in China, there are bats carrying a virus that can directly infect people & cause another SARS pandemic" https://www.wired.com/2013/10/bats-next-sars-pandemic/">https://www.wired.com/2013/10/b...

... & this: "That should be a warning to everyone, @PeterDaszak says. Even if the SARS virus did jump to humans via civets, that intermediate step was not necessary...Bats are still hunted and eaten in large numbers ..."I think people should stop hunting bats & stop eating bats."

...& then there& #39;s this in 2018 from the ever-prescient @marynmck "Understanding those intersections is a critical part of defending against new human viruses. We need more surveillance, and much more robust defenses, all along that border." https://www.wired.com/story/the-race-to-find-the-next-pandemic-before-it-finds-us/">https://www.wired.com/story/the...

With this comment from me: “Globally we let viruses emerge and trickle through our net quite often. That needs to stop. We need to start taking these things seriously.”