It was the best of times, it was the worst of times: a tale of two cities-Beijing and Shanghai-why the divergent COVID-19 control outcomes?

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) both creates and complicates public health challenges. Yet, the pandemic also provides a unique lens for dissecting complex issues in global health that could benefit society in the long run. In this article, we discuss the underlying reasons that can help explain the divergent COVID-19 control outcomes between Beijing and Shanghai-two advanced metropolises that are similar in their municipal capacity, administrative capability and pandemic strategy. We hope insights from this investigation contribute to the development of disease prevention systems, such as context-specific and data-driven public health strategies that could yield optimal pandemic control outcomes with minimal unintended consequences, both amid and beyond COVID-19.

How to avoid future "Covid-19 origins" questions?

Origins debates regarding Covid-19 are gaining momentum again. In light of the continued infections and deaths of Covid-19 seen in countries rich and poor, rather than focusing the approach with "whodunit", developing solutions that can help societies become better prepared for future pandemics might be a more meaningful way to move forward. In this paper, we propose a solution that could help society better predict and prevent future pandemics. A system could allow humans to anonymously report potential infectious disease outbreaks without fearing backlash or prejudice and could automatically surveil for potential disease transfers or virus leaks. The proposed autonomous and anonymous pandemic reporting and surveillance system has the potential to help health officials locate infectious disease outbreaks before they form into pandemics. And in turn, it better prevents future pandemics and avoids Covid-19 origins debates.