Hantavirus

Hantavirus

May 9, 2026

From May 6 onward, the first cases were reported. After that, it moved faster than I expected. I was in shock and said nothing.

My trainer at the gym asked me when I would finally write about it. Of course, our collective trauma from COVID-19 immediately resurfaces. We never truly recovered from it. Hardly had the pandemic ended before the war in Ukraine began. Meanwhile, islands like ours have become increasingly dependent on tourism. Let us hope this outbreak remains under control.

Virologists have warned us for years: the question is not if another pandemic will come, but when. Yet many seem to have forgotten that already. People are traveling again as if the world is permanently safe.

But we also forget why pandemics will become more frequent. We are destroying ecosystems and living closer and closer to animals carrying viruses against which we have no natural resistance.

COVID-19 also taught us that poverty and inequality make people more vulnerable. Without proper housing, healthcare, or access to running water, people are weaker in the face of any crisis.

So what now?

Maybe we should travel less. Maybe we should learn to leave nature alone. But above all, we should ensure that everyone has access to basic necessities.

That is not only social policy. It is also a pandemic prevention.

Miguel Goede