COVID-19 was not unexpected for many of us, said Ramanan Laxminarayan, Founder, Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy at the 12-hour #SwasthyaMantra telethon. He added that viruses are always trying to jump from animals to humans, while some may not succeed, some may wreak havoc as done by SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus. He also highlighted that public health systems in the developing countries need to be strengthened so that they are prepared to face and manage such outbreaks.