During the 2018-2019 season, there were more than 35 million cases of the flu that resulted in 34,157 deaths in the United States alone. Yet each year, the flu season comes and goes without much fanfare outside of the public health community. In contrast, the novel coronavirus managed to shut down the global economy after killing a few thousand people — and that’s across the entire world. The strain of virus that causes the disease COVID-19 has disrupted people’s daily lives, in some ways, to a greater degree than wartime. Schools and churches have closed. All the major sports leagues have suspended their seasons. New Yorkers cannot see Broadway shows, and Parisians cannot dine in cafes. In Rome, the pope has had to give his weekly blessing to an empty St. Peter’s Square. The stock...