light at the end of a tunnel

Reality and Hope

COVID-19 brought us horror. Science gives us possibilities.

By Brian W. Simpson

“It’s all a bunch of hype.”

An older man shared that bit of COVID-19 insight with me in early March. I’d just finished a workout at the local YMCA, and we had a brief conversation in the locker room. It ended when I responded, “We’ll see in a few weeks.” 

Well, we have seen the globe-sweeping reality of SARS-CoV-2 (and learned that denial is not a strategy). Early in the pandemic, every day offered fresh horrors: the loss of more lives, the stories of overwhelmed hospitals, and the images of shuttered businesses and food lines miles long. 

But we also found hope in the work of Bloomberg School faculty, students, and alumni—and that of many others. Their ideas, research, discoveries, and projects are expanding knowledge and possibilities.

The novel coronavirus will be with us for a long time. It’s not hype. It’s real, but so is the promise of the many solutions.