Yes, it probably will look like an overreaction, but that doesn't provide carte-blanche to overreact every time there's a new virus.
As GP mentioned, this happens every few years. Most of the time, it fizzles out. We can't transition all production to hospital equipment every few years, even if it is the right call twice a century.
I have often reprimanded (and have in turn been reprimanded) for overengineering a solution to a problem which just needed a quick fix, because it's not often appropriate to dedicate a lot of resources to ensuring that there are no possible errors. If it is, I'll ask for that specifically.
You'd need to ask someone who thinks it's a good idea to keep a massive oversupply for the military. (Note that I'm not American, so I have no skin in that game.)
I don't, though, disagree with keeping a large stockpile of goods.* I just disagree with constantly kneejerk reassigning production to it.
* I still don't know that it can work, but only because I think people too quickly forget that it's important. If people could be convinced otherwise in the long term, I think it's a great idea.
Most people would accept that epidemics (let alone pandemics) are bad enough on their own. Many people would say bad enough to avoid a Just In Time approach to public health.
Why do you assume that lives will be saved by redistributing resources like the ancestor proposed?
Once in fifty years it will save lives, certainly. What about the shortage of other manufactured goods the other twenty times a century that you reassign factories to diseases that turn out to be nothing?
I think it's a bad idea because it will hurt people, not because I want to save money.
SARS, swine flu, bird flu, ebola - just in the past couple of decades these all caused considerable concern of pandemic. We're talking about what we knew of COVID19 in January here, which was basically nothing.
Hindsight justification for which ones were a real problem isn't useful.
As GP mentioned, this happens every few years. Most of the time, it fizzles out. We can't transition all production to hospital equipment every few years, even if it is the right call twice a century.
I have often reprimanded (and have in turn been reprimanded) for overengineering a solution to a problem which just needed a quick fix, because it's not often appropriate to dedicate a lot of resources to ensuring that there are no possible errors. If it is, I'll ask for that specifically.