Abstract

Three years ago, the WHO declared a COVID-19 pandemic. Tens of millions of people died, and the global economy and
human relations were severely tested. Here, we focus on the problems that the pandemic has brought about and the possible lessons to be learned from them.

The problems are divided into three large groups, which are very different both in terms of causes and possible solutions. First, problems that need not be simple, but have concrete solutions. For example, adding new resources or improving working conditions. The second group is related to the active spread of disinformation, be it about protection measures against the spread of the virus or the effectiveness of vaccines. Such problems are not new in history, but they are strongly leveraged by the use of modern social media channels.

The third set of problems is called “wicked problems”, whose solutions are very complex or absent. Yet they exist and must be dealt with.