(Ebook) COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons from the Frontline by Jorge Hidalgo (Editor), Gloria Rodrı´guez-Vega (Editor), Javier Perez-Ferna´ndez (Editor) ISBN 9780323828604, 0323828604

(Ebook) COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons from the Frontline by Jorge Hidalgo (Editor), Gloria Rodrı´guez-Vega (Editor), Javier Perez-Ferna´ndez (Editor) ISBN 9780323828604, 0323828604

By the end of 2019, the world witnessed the appearance of a new strain of virus causingrespiratory and systemic illness in the region of Wuhan, China. Progressively,media attention grew to that area and news were being watched with concern bysome and skepticism by others. However, it was not until the latest February andthe beginning of March 2020, when the infection spread to Europe and the UnitedStates, that the world started to focus attention to this disease. Even then, the mediaand public opinion were divided into the needs or appropriateness of the responsesthat different countries were developing about the convenience of border closures orthe implementation of quarantine for travelers or even close contacts.The year of 2020 has been one that humanity will recall as a “dark one,” not onlyby the COVID-19 pandemic but also by the erratic, disorganized, and sometimesmisdirected response of public authorities, media, and private individuals. A conglomerateof opinions, the lack of evidence to formulate health-care policies andresponses, and the feeling of the absence of international cooperation have beenthe markers of this year. These represent a motive to learn and evolve for futureevents to come.Lessons from the Front Line explores some first-hand experiences, from thosewho have been involved in this fight, in the first line of the response, from thosewho have suffered the disease, and from those who have been affected directly orindirectly by the COVID-19 and whose lives have abruptly changed. With the experiencesand opinions reflected on the book, we would like to make a call for attentionto some aspects that need serious improvement to cope with future disasters, hopefullynot to be seen soon.