@Hawkwinter I think that's exactly right. Harder to ignore when the deaths are piling up, but the "silent sick" - those who can no longer get out of their house/bed and those with illnesses that are not outright obvious to others - are much easier to ignore.
We should have know from the first round of SARS. But once we had to deal with this worldwide, it could no longer be dealt with in a way that wouldn't harm the economy.
Health be damned!