First, condolences to Dr. Li’s family. As we speak of epidemiology and statistics, let’s not forget that every single “case” is an individual with family and fr

First, condolences to Dr. Li’s family. As we speak of epidemiology and statistics, let’s not forget that every single “case” is an individual with family and friends, and behind each individual are doctors, nurses, and caretakers who risk their own health to help another. Second, as noted by nkurz the contrast between bacterial and viral treatments is striking. Whereas we expect bacterial infections to be treatable and are alarmed when they aren’t (MRSA), we expect viral infections to simply run their course except for the few instances where they’re treatable (HIV, influenza) or even (gasp!) curable (HCV). We explain away the sad state of antivirals by pointing to the inherent biochemical challenges of fighting viruses [1] but maybe what we really need is a breakthrough — perhaps a miraculous fortuitous “penicillin” moment — so 100 years from now antivirals will also be a matter of course. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiviral_drug#Approaches_by_life_cycle_stage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiviral_drug#Approaches_by_l...