For two years the COVID-19 pandemic has upended the world. The physician
and medical historian Jacalyn Duffin presents a global history of the
virus, with a focus on Canada.Duffin describes the frightening
appearance of the virus and its identification by scientists in China;
subsequent outbreaks on cruise ships; the relentless spread to Europe,
the Americas, Africa, and elsewhere; and the immediate attempts to
confront it. COVID-19 next explores the scientific history of infections
generally, and the discovery of coronaviruses in particular. Taking a
broad approach, the book explains the advent of tests, treatments, and
vaccines, as well as the practical politics behind interventions,
including quarantines, barrier technologies, lockdowns, and social and
financial supports. In concluding chapters Duffin analyzes the outcome
of successive waves of COVID-19 infection around the world: the toll of
human suffering, the successes and failures of control measures, vaccine
rollouts, and grassroots opposition to governments' attempts to limit
the spread and mitigate social and economic damages.Closing with the
fraught search for the origins of COVID-19, Duffin considers the
implications of an "infodemic" and provides an cautionary outlook for
the future.
