Contributed by Alex Lazarow, a venture capitalist with Cathay Innovation and author of OUT-INNOVATE: How Global Entrepreneurs–from Delhi to Detroit–Are Rewriting the Rules of Silicon Valley.

World leaders are putting up walls. For some, it is seen as a necessity to stem the growth of COVID cases in the domestic population. The European Union, for example, has extended its moratorium on flights from the United States, among other countries, because of coronavirus fears.

For other leaders, it is as good an excuse as any to push forward an established policy goal of protectionism and anti-immigration. In the US, the Trump administration announced its suspension of H-1B skilled visas, as well as other visa programs, to protect against COVID case growth and to prioritize Americans for domestic jobs as the economic recovery hastens.

Yet it is the same COVID story that tells us the importance of global collaboration for world-changing innovation. These days, some of the most promising vaccine candidates are coming out of the UK, China, France, Germany, and the US, and learnings from Liberia during the last Ebola outbreak are helping with contact tracing.