COVID-19 Pandemic and the Global Response: Why a Delicate Virus and a Mild Illness Devastated a Resilient Global Community

<i>Introduction:</i> Owing to the vast devastation that COVID-10 wrecked on the global community, some hold the misconception that COVID-19 was intractable, that our health systems were weak and that the global community lacked adequate resilience to contain the outbreak from escalating to a pandemic. With such misconceptions, some stakeholders are canvassing new pandemic treaties and new pandemic preparedness and response strategies for the future. This study aims to interrogate further COVID-19 and the pandemic response to establish new lessons learned on which future remedial policies and actions will be based, not on misconceptions. <i>Methods: </i>An exploratory research method was adopted, applying the tools of desk review/data extraction, input-output device, time-frame analysis, management by objective and rational decision approach. <i>Result:</i> This study found that SARS-CoV-2 is a delicate virus; that COVID-19, pre se, is a mild illness; that the global community was, and is still very resilient; that avoidable mismanagement of the global response enabled the outbreak to escalate to a devastating pandemic; that if existing and emerging global resilient capacities were fully harnessed and applied, COVID-19 would have been effectively controlled by March 2021. <i>Conclusion:</i> The study concludes that SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 could not have devastated our resilient global community if not for the avoidable mismanagement of the global response. The study recommends among others, that member-states conduct post-pandemic reviews that will establish better mechanism for multilateral engagements that will achieve the dual mandate of safeguarding national interest in flux-free multilateral cooperation.