I work in technology, currently as a software developer for a cancer center, and almost all of the technology staff can and are working remotely. There still needs to be some people there to help the medical staff directly, but the institution I am at rapidly moved to respond to the virus. Now, other than straight programming, I am spending more time putting out documentation for users so they can get up to speed on working and collaborating remotely, expanding capacity, since it is straining resources.
Outside of the medical community, there were some notable people that did recognize the threat, Bill Gates for one, but it sometimes is dependent upon experience. Companies that I worked with that had experienced the World Trade Center bombing in 1994 were prepared for 2001 with disaster recovery and business continuity plans. In the same way, some countries affected by the original SAR virus had strong responses:
Even before the virus began spreading in Singapore, the prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong reminded the public about the 2003 SARS outbreak and said he planned to overreact to the coronavirus. “We have built up our institutions, our plans, our facilities, our stockpiles, our people, our training,” he said on Jan. 31. “Because we knew that one day something like that would happen again.”
Then there is political will. Does the government care about these things? Any administration has priorities. If they care about preparedness and responsiveness, problems are minimized. If not, people suffer.