The Public Health Company, the leader in global biorisk management, announces the release of a new book that investigates the best and worst of the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lessons from the COVID War: An Investigative Report presents 10 key lessons from the pandemic in layman’s language. The authors approach their task from scientific and public health perspectives, and explore how the country can improve its response to biological threats in the future.

Dr. Charity Dean, PHC Global founder and CEO, brings her deep experience on the front lines of public health to this project and co-authored the book with 33 other writers. As a leader in the California Department of Public Health, she saw the COVID-19 pandemic coming before government agencies and leaders of other formal systems took notice. And she took action. She struggled to make a difference – initially in her state’s pandemic response and later in the country’s response – and learned key lessons about the limitations of government. She saw the need for new systems that operate in real time.

Dr. Dean became a member of the COVID Crisis Group – a work group comprising the 34 co-authors of this report. As a team, they soon realized that the U.S. systems – healthcare, security, public health intelligence, crisis management and software systems – were built to solve 19th century problems, and they were not able to meet the challenges of this pandemic effectively. This book outlines their insights into the need for national and international systems that provide timely, accurate and integrated information.

“It became clear to me that companies in the private sector expected government to come to their rescue,” Dr. Dean said. “Unfortunately, no one was coming to save them. They had to do it themselves.”

In response to the lack of resources that could save lives and livelihoods during the pandemic, Dr. Dean founded The Public Health Company, a commercial-grade global biosecurity platform that empowers enterprises to manage biorisk at scale. PHC Glboal provides an early warning system and intelligence from multiple trusted sources across the world to support informed decision-making by corporate leaders.

The authors believe we will experience biological threats in the future, and we must improve our response. This new book helps all Americans take stock, learn hard truths, come together, build on what worked and prepare for global emergencies to come.