“COVID has given us a chance to reflect on how big, bold decisions can be taken. It has given us a window of thinking and we have a choice, whether we go to that terrible world which is going to destroy itself anyway or we go someplace else and build a new world where there will be no global warming, no wealth concentration, no unemployment,” the pioneer of micro credit financing said.

Even in the short term, though, there are quick lessons to learn. Consider one success story in India — the outbreak in the massive Mumbai slum of Dharavi, where “Slumdog Millionaire” was famously set. Early on, it seemed that Dharavi would almost certainly suffer an exponential rise in cases. Instead, an innovative combination of privately staffed fever clinics, repurposed public infrastructure and manpower from non-governmental organizations managed to flatten the curve there.