«After the Ultimate Virus» by Sandra J Darroch

In the wake of the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, the world learned some big lessons. But not enough. Life eventually returned to normal, affluence and profligate activity increased — it was The Best of Times. But then the gap between the Haves and the Have-Nots grew.Finally, halfway through the 21st century urban riots, drone warfare and nuclear war, followed by the Ultimate Virus, wiped out the world's population — save a little colony on Australia's Bondi Beach, which sets about rebuilding a new world.Written before the COVID-19 pandemic, in response to the conjecture of Australian Professor Huw Price, Head of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at Cambridge University, that a mega virus was one of the major existential threats facing our society, this is a story of a great love affair, political intrigue, danger and heroic — and mock-heroic — endeavour, as well as a warning of what could be in store for us all.