ABSTRACT
The global spread of Covid-19 has demonstrated that no country has the number beds in its intensive care units (ICU) to manage patient loads under worst-case scenarios. The near-universal response to the panic created by Covid-19 leads to the conclusion that the number of ICU beds needed to deal with a disaster should become a new norm and a new way to judge when radical action is needed to respond to a global threat. Clearly the current number of ICU beds available is insufficient compared to what would be required in the event of a nuclear weapon explosion. To those whose primary professional interest lies in nuclear weapons and the dangers they pose, the coronavirus pandemic is a striking validation of the Humanitarian Initiative, which took off ten years ago with three core propositions. First, no country individually has the capacity to cope with the humanitarian consequences of a nuclear war, and the international system does not have it collectively, either. Second, it is therefore in the interests of all humanity that nuclear weapons never be used again, under any circumstances. And finally, the only guarantee of non-use is the complete elimination of nuclear weapons.
