California Gov. Gavin Newsom declares state of emergency over bird flu, calling it a "proactive action"

I'm going to be flogged for saying this as well, but I don't understand why you're being down-voted.

I lost a lot of money being furloughed and was on the verge of declaring bankruptcy, and many old friends of my father in India died in that global cluster-fuck. Granted, there were many environmental benefits for our ailing biosphere, and I found many moments of peaceful solace as a result of not having to be in public, but average people were eviscerated by that virus on many levels.

I agree: despite the inevitability of another one, to wish for another pandemic is, at best, an idiotic, selfish, and angsty teenage opinion. Along with the obvious health risks, people now have even less trust in institutional health and scientific organizations, leading me to predict that the next one will be even worse because people refuse to think and learn nothing from the past.

Even worse, people regard their unbridled skepticism of expert opinion, research, and their own scientific ignorance as a virtue. We experienced the Dunning-Kruger effect at a global scale and will do so again because the average person despises humility and thinks they know everything about anything.

Kind of like a bunch of bratty teenagers.