I wish I could share your optimism, nonsuch. I agree that there was a period of an increased care for the environment, international cooperation and other "liberal lefty snowflake" ideas. But the powers that be pushed hard in the opposite direction and mostly succeeded: the past few years have seen that trend reversed. (Or maybe it is just in the UK and US, I might be too myopic to see beyond that.)

Regarding Covid 19, I assume they meant the spread. Mutations happen all the time, but a human encroachment on nature means a cross-species transmission is more likely. Similar flare ups may have been common in the hunter-gatherer society, but a deadly outbreak would have wiped out one tribe and then die out. Nowadays, "one tribe" means the entire globe.