But COVID-19 did jump from bats to humans (with potentially a few intermediary hosts in between) and now the reality we are faced with is that council elections across the state have been pushed back a year.

Will the sister city debacle that resulted in Wagga's name being dragged through the mud over the past week still be at the forefront of people's minds come September 2021?

Some councillors will be hoping yes, some councillors will be hoping no.

This will be hard to swallow for many, but the big winner out of this whole sordid affair is Councillor Paul Funnell, who instigated the motion to sever ties with Wagga's Chinese sister city Kunming.

I don't believe for a second that Cr Funnell cared whether his notice of motion was passed or rejected, and he definitely won't be losing any sleep that it looks certain to be rescinded on Wednesday night.

The mere fact he has been able to tap into a surge of anti-China sentiment as a result of the superpower's handling of the coronavirus pandemic will only further endear him to his base and bring him a step closer to re-election.

You can - and should - question the morality of such self-interest, but there's no doubting its effectiveness as a political strategy.

Cr Tim Koschel, assuming he intends to stand for council again, will be one councillor heaving a sigh of relief that he has an extra 12 months to try to repair his reputation.

After mayor Greg Conkey was absent through ill health and deputy mayor Dallas Tout declared a conflict of interest, a quirk of fate in the form of having his name drawn out of a box of chocolates handed Cr Koschel the position of acting chairman.

To then use his casting vote to push through such a destructive and divisive motion and throw away a 30-plus year relationship with Kunming showed an appalling lack of judgment.

To Cr Koschel's credit, less than 24 hours later he took to his Facebook page to declare as much, announcing that he would subsequently vote to rescind the motion at the upcoming extraordinary council meeting.

Somehow Cr Koschel has managed to alienate all the constituents opposed to severing ties with Kunming by supporting the motion, and then alienating all the constitutes in favour of severing ties with Kunming by backflipping.

Not for the first time in recent years, Wagga's reputation has been damaged by the very people entrusted to serve its best interests.

As I have opined before - and attracted much criticism for doing so - I believe this council has done a lot over the last three-and-a-half-years to rebuild its tattered reputation.

But can the council hold it together for an extra 12 months, or will self-interest undo all its good work?

All the best for the week ahead,

Ross Tyson, editor