Watch out USA. Global wave on its way.
Phases of a global wave:
Stage 1: A few cases spike into lots of cases quickly somewhere and identified as a very infectious variant
Stage 2: Countries spot small pockets of new variant and put a ring around them and local restrictions to stem spread.
Stage 3: The world details the new variant and issues warnings to all to be on the lookout.
Stage 4: Best prepared nations minimise the impact with strict quarantine rules for anyone recently in the infected region. Enforced - not assumed to be followed.
Stage 5: One country (let us call it Weknowbest) announce there might be a new variant out there and having the best test abd trace facilities in the solar system are urgently investigating.
Stage 6: Weknowbest declares the variant is indeed out there and dangerous but already here and now cannot be stopped from spreading but was impossible to have been seen before.
Stage 7: Politicians squabble over over why early decisions were not taken in Weknowbest to minimise impact in this country where it now spreads a lot. They all blame the other guy.
Yor would think we might collectively learn something as a planet from this. Given it is going to happen again, And again.
My view is the one clear lesson out of all this when there IS a next pandemic.
Immediately create a war cabinet to take the decisions collectively. Then you instantly remove politics and having to balance what is needed for the nation and the world from what is demanded by your voters/party/the media etc.
Pandemics and politics are not compatible. Having to please your voters and saving the planet will inevitably create diluted or wrong moves because the right thing was not the thing that your backers want.
The nations that work that out will survive the next one far better.