The simple facts are that the "procedures" developed for covid, were pretty much the same ones developed for the 1918 pandemic.Covid was the first virgin field epidemic since the Influenza pandemic of 1918. The fact that there were no proven medical procedures to fight it frightened the medical establishment and they in turn, frightened the leaders of the world into over-reaction and unwise decisions regarding covid. As it turns out once procedures were developed (which took a couple of months) Covid was no more dangerous than the yearly influenza outbreak in the years the CDC guessed wrong on the vaccine strain to develop. Modern medical science doesn't deal well with uncertainty. In the end "social distancing" and admonitions of "don't sneeze on other people" worked about as well as the various vaccines to prevent spread. there was never the "herd immunity" developed that normally works. Look at the "masks" people were using towards the end of Covid; the KN-95s were mostly not being used, people had changed over to bandannas and cloth facemasks that were more comfortable and worked just as well as the KN-95s did in the real world.
Some progress.
And, covid wasn't "virgin", it is man made. It was intended to be a biological warfare agent. That's the sole purpose of gain of function research.
To make weapons of mass destruction.