There was a time when it seemed possible for the world to contain
COVID-19—the disease caused by the new coronavirus. That time is over.
What began as an outbreak in China has become a pandemic, and as a
growing number of countries struggle to control the virus, talk of
“flattening the curve” is increasing. That is, a lot of people are going
to get sick, and delaying infections as much as possible is imperative,
so that cases occur over a long period of time and health systems
aren’t suddenly inundated. Almost every country is trying to achieve
this goal through the standard arsenal of public health—testing people
and tracing contacts—and through more restrictive measures that include
instituting quarantines, closing public spaces, banning mass gatherings,
and issuing strong advice about social distancing.
Here's another perspective - the British position was never to deny that stricter measures wouldn't work better. The thinking was that putting people in quarantine and social isolation is a time limited measure. People will go stir crazy. They will start to sneak out to keep their sanity. Started too early, this means that at the point when quarantine is absolutely needed, people will no longer be able to tolerate it and the measures will fail. It's that thought - we'll fire our gun at the last minute and hopefully it'll work - that drove the policy.
ReplyDeleteThey made a mistake, they relied on the Daas of the chief scientific advisor, but there was an outcry from meah scientists who showed he was wrong. So they quietly changed track, without admitting their error so that people don't lose their emunas chachamim in him. Sounds familiar?
ReplyDelete