Five years after COVID-19 pandemic: Are we ready for the next health crisis?

Tuesday marks five years since the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic.

The virus disrupted daily life, strained healthcare systems, and reshaped scientific research. Now, local experts are reflecting on the lessons learned—acknowledging both the successes and the challenges that defined the response.

“I remember we were thinking, how are we going to deal with this? You know, we had had Ebola previously that we had gone through and so we didn't know what to expect from this new COVID-19 virus,” remembered Stephen Love, president of the DFW Hospital Council. “I'm real proud of what we did in North Texas I got to tell you everyone pulled together we work together it got really tough but we made it through.”

As Texas faces its worst measles outbreak in decades and concerns grow over bird flu, health officials said the anniversary serves as a crucial moment to assess preparedness for future pandemics.

Love said vigilance is key.

“Some of the infectious disease doctors want to watch the bird flu carefully. Is it going to make that jump to humans? Yes. And if so, is it going to be the next pandemic? We certainly hope not, but we do know that we've got to pay attention,” he said. “So if nothing else, I think we've learned to be much more aware and to begin to prepare just in case."

Love remembers reading a book about the 1918 influenza pandemic and reaching out to the author himself for insight.

"Even though it's not identical in some ways history did repeat itself," Love said. "Some of the decisions we made were the right decisions. COVID was extremely contagious. We had to restrict visitation at hospitals, we had to encourage people to wash their hands and use hand sanitizer, practice good distancing -- things that were out of the ordinary for many people."

Looking back, Love said trying to get everyone on the same page during the health crisis had some learning curves that will now be put into better practice for the next major crisis.

"A lot of the large counties have really good public health departments. But even then, you had guidelines at the federal level, state level, county level, and local level -- and we weren't all swimming in the same direction, if you will," he said. "So I think some of the lessons learned are how do we improve on public health and make it a little more streamlined? And how are we more consistent in how we deal with something like COVID?"

STRENGTH OF COLLABORATION

Still, Love said one of the biggest victories of the pandemic was the way hospitals, county leaders, and frontline healthcare workers learned to work together despite the challenges.

Hospitals developed more efficient ways to coordinate resources, particularly during COVID-19 surges. Sharing supplies, optimizing bed space, and streamlining emergency responses became critical strategies—some of which are now being applied to other crises, including natural disasters and disease outbreaks.

Despite these efforts, COVID-19 took a devastating toll. More than 94,000 Texans died from the virus in the first three years alone, . Love said healthcare leaders are determined to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

“COVID was unknown to us. I salute all the clinical people—they had to fly the airplane and really do a flight plan at the same time,” he said.

INVESTING IN PUBLIC HEALTH

Dr. Philip Huang, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, said the pandemic exposed major gaps in public health data systems.

“We were literally inundated with piles of paper faxes and medical students manually entering daily COVID data,” Huang said.

Since then, Dallas County has made significant improvements to ensure more accurate, modern, and timely data collection. The county is also constructing a state-of-the-art laboratory to improve testing capabilities for future health emergencies.

However, one of the biggest challenges remains misinformation, particularly regarding vaccines and public health messaging.

"I think that the really disappointing thing is that these things start to become politicized and it shouldn't be a Republican or a Democrat vaccine or whatever – it should be based on the science. And this is not a political thing. We really need to look at what we all need to do together to improve and protect our health,” Huang said.

While hospitals continue to refine their pandemic response plans, they are also preparing for another major challenge: the FIFA World Cup.

With Dallas set to host multiple matches in 2026, hospitals, trauma units and emergency rooms are developing contingency plans to handle the influx of visitors from around the world and potential medical emergencies. Experts said the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic will play a crucial role in shaping their approach.

"It's going to be like nine Super Bowls. People are going to be having all kinds of medical conditions and many may not speak English. We'll work with all of our partners within the community but it's going to be a big undertaking," Love said. "We're having meetings now doing planning on that and there there's a lot of moving parts to it but we're so proud that we're going to be an integral part of this great sporting event here in North Texas."