After enduring weeks of criticism for its Covid-19 response, the U.K. government has now imposed strict restrictions on British citizens, who can go out only to shop for necessities, exercise once a day, travel to and from essential work, or for medical care.
The lockdown marks the latest stage in Britain's evolving approach to Covid-19-one that Johnson and his ministers are adamant isn't a "U-turn." Until last week, the U.K. had pursued a strategy of "Mitigation" rather than "Suppression," focused on ensuring that those with symptoms stayed home to protect the most vulnerable in the population.
According to the government's initial approach, it was crucial that suppression be timed to coincide with the peak of the coronavirus curve-or, to paraphrase the U.K.'s Chief Scientific Adviser, Patrick Vallance, to do the right thing at the right time.
Whereas Trump has, at times, appeared reluctant to face the inconvenient truths about the coronavirus, the U.K. government has followed the data and deferred to the advice of senior scientific advisors.
On the fringes of British political Twitter, the government's approach has been described as "#ToryGenocide.
" Some on the Left argue that the reluctance to shut down Britain sooner was driven by "Tory callousness." But the British government's real crime is surely one of epistemological overconfidence.
Adding to the muddled picture is a revised opinion from the scientist behind the gloomy Imperial College study that precipitated the government's change in approach.
https://www.city-journal.org/britain-shifting-covid-19-strategies
The lockdown marks the latest stage in Britain's evolving approach to Covid-19-one that Johnson and his ministers are adamant isn't a "U-turn." Until last week, the U.K. had pursued a strategy of "Mitigation" rather than "Suppression," focused on ensuring that those with symptoms stayed home to protect the most vulnerable in the population.
According to the government's initial approach, it was crucial that suppression be timed to coincide with the peak of the coronavirus curve-or, to paraphrase the U.K.'s Chief Scientific Adviser, Patrick Vallance, to do the right thing at the right time.
Whereas Trump has, at times, appeared reluctant to face the inconvenient truths about the coronavirus, the U.K. government has followed the data and deferred to the advice of senior scientific advisors.
On the fringes of British political Twitter, the government's approach has been described as "#ToryGenocide.
" Some on the Left argue that the reluctance to shut down Britain sooner was driven by "Tory callousness." But the British government's real crime is surely one of epistemological overconfidence.
Adding to the muddled picture is a revised opinion from the scientist behind the gloomy Imperial College study that precipitated the government's change in approach.
https://www.city-journal.org/britain-shifting-covid-19-strategies
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