It’s likely that few, if any, of their forecasts will come to pass. This time next year, we may well marvel at how swiftly this existential threat was vanquished. But with the numbers going in the wrong direction, and collective confidence badly shaken, those given to ruinous thoughts can be forgiven for thinking the worst:

— What if humanity’s frantic efforts to produce a viable vaccine take longer than envisioned, allowing the virus to kill indiscriminately in the interim?

— What if that coincides with a climate calamity that ruins crops and shatters supply chains, stripping supermarket shelves bare of much more than hand sanitizer and toilet paper?

— For all our kvetching about masks, could we one day find ourselves having to don hazmat suits just to leave the house?

— Is it such a stretch to imagine the economic fallout moving beyond jobs and 401(k)s and wiping out entire industries — setting off a global Great Depression, Part Two?