The first
recorded COVID-19 case emerged in China and, within a few months, it has spread
to 210 countries globally, thrusting people into danger, uncertainty, fear, and
of course physical and social isolation. The impacts of this pandemic are
significant for every aspect of our lives. Crises include risk and chances at
the same time. As Shakespeare said, “There is nothing either good or bad, but
thinking makes it so“. This paper focuses on threats and opportunities of the
pandemic crisis for humans and planet Earth. Crisis is
defined as an unplanned and unwanted process of limited duration and impact,
which endangers primary goals, and produces ambivalent outcome. Crisis
management encompasses three phases: avoiding the crisis, identifying its
symptoms when they occur and finding ways out of the crisis. There are several
research questions related to that. First, could the COVID-19 crisis be
avoided? Or at least could its onset be recognized early? Second, how can the
pandemic crisis be measured in terms of its intensity and depth? Third, which
ways lead us out of the crisis? And fourth, which lessons have to be learned? Exploring
the novel literature and research findings provides new insights into the
pandemic crisis and the crisis management process, which is the aim of the
paper. With its results and major conclusions this paper provides a holistic
perspective to the pandemic crisis and crisis management.