Undoubtedly, the different phases of complicated management of the crisis have been characterized by a sense of “stumbling around in the dark”, which in turn has highlighted the need for good preparation on the part of those involved. For both scientists, who are familiar with the phenomenon, and the health care workers who manage it, for both the bodies protecting citizens and for those making the necessary political decisions, the key word has been “expertise”. Perhaps it has not always been so; perhaps it has not been so for all those who have a role in our society and who should have been able to exercise that expertise. If the crisis has taught us anything, it is the importance of relying on the proven knowledge, experience and rigorous expertise of professionals capable to deal with a tsunami of this nature. Unfortunately, the tendency to improvise as “bar-immunologists”, “keyboard-economists”, and “consensus-politicians” has made it extremely complex – and often contradictory and confusing – to define the strategic synergy necessary to find solutions.

Never before has the crisis enlightened us on how necessary it is to rely on those who know, and know not by hearsay, but by actual familiarity with and /or deep knowledge of the subject. This applies not only to emergency workers, but above all to politicians, who are responsible for taking difficult and often final decisions, but who in many instances have shown incompetence and ignorance in terms of powers to be exerted, procedures to be triggered and priorities to be guaranteed. And if there is a lesson to be learned, it is that in the future we must choose to be guided, professionally and politically, by serious, competent people, verified in their expertise. Just as, in our private life, we would never rely on an online test to diagnose a disease, nor would we ever entrust the repair of our car to our neighbour just because he bought a toolbox, so much less would we entrust the development strategy of our communities to those who are not competent. Nothing new per se, but the Covid19 crisis has confirmed how seriously this should be taken.