Some people have been asking me why I'm so sure that we're going to be OK amidst the #COVID19 pandemic. I keep telling everyone that while this is going to be a tough few months, we're going to be all right. Let me explain why.

( #coronavirus thread)

This is the fifth major outbreak I'm working on. I've seen two EBOV outbreaks. I've seen a measles outbreak. I've seen CCHF. I've seen nosocomial outbreaks. There was a ton of scary stuff to each. Even if none were pandemics, they all were microcosms of devastation and loss.

Viruses are incredible. Diverse, clever, intricate predators. I've seen them kill in 48 hours amidst agony I can't even describe. And yet here's the important thing – none of these diseases are a remote match to humans at their best. And yes, humans can be at their best.

I've seen most bad things humans can do to each other: war, violence, unimaginable horrors. But I've also seen humans at their best, even when the circumstances were horrific. Courage, strength and solidarity are there for all humans. We just need to reach for them.

There's something we have that the virus doesn't – and can't contend with: the human drive for knowledge and understanding. And it will see us through this crisis just as it has seen us through our history. All we need to get through this –all of us, together– is to be our best.