Sustained research fund and dedicated research center to prepare for the next pandemic

Abstract The current COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus is imposing a great threat to human lives and international panic the like of which has not been seen since WWII, resulting in financial crisis, disturbance to daily life, transportation shutdown, industry disruption, and country/city lockdown in every corner of the globe. The inability to effectively contain the virus indicates that our investment and attention to research, prevention, and development of treatment for this type of deadly virus are insufficient, considering that it has been 18 years since outbreak of the "brother" coronavirus, SARS-CoV. The biggest lesson learned from acrimonious past experiences is that humans quickly forget and do not continue to support related research when a pandemic has passed. This is a wake-up call for governments, industry, and private foundations to work together and to take extraordinary measures to sustain research support and establish comprehensive research centers. Only this level of response may give us hope to prepare for the future and adequately deal with the next potential pandemic caused by emerging devastating viral infections.

摘要 由严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV - 2）引发的当前新冠疫情对人类生命构成巨大威胁，并引发了自二战以来从未有过的国际恐慌，导致全球各地出现金融危机、日常生活受扰、交通停运、工业中断以及国家/城市封锁。无法有效遏制该病毒表明，鉴于其“近亲”严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒（SARS - CoV）爆发已有18年，我们在对这类致命病毒的研究、预防以及治疗方法开发方面的投入和关注是不足的。从以往惨痛经历中吸取的最大教训是，当一场大流行过去后，人类会很快遗忘，并且不再继续支持相关研究。这为政府、企业和私人基金会敲响了警钟，促使它们携手合作，采取非常措施来维持研究支持并建立综合性研究中心。只有这种程度的应对措施，才可能给我们带来希望，为未来做好准备，并充分应对由新出现的毁灭性病毒感染引发的下一场潜在大流行。