Okay, about the British response to coronavirus I don't think there's any doubt that they got caught flat-footed, hesitated about the right course of action to take, and took too long to lock down.
(How costly these mistakes actually were in terms of lives lost is probably debatable - after all, it was pretty much inevitable that London would get smashed no matter what the government did.)
But here's the proposed path out of lockdown from the article I posted a few days ago:
The proposals are to be split into five stages over the coming months, and a leaked version of the plan has suggested the first changes on Monday will see garden centres allowed to open and unlimited exercise allowed.
There will also be a return to sunbathing and picnics, more key workers' children will go back to school, staff will start returning to businesses that stayed open during the lockdown and open-air markets may reopen.
The second stage at the end of May will then see primary schools gradually return with smaller classes and some outdoor sports such as golf and tennis potentially resuming – possibly along with open-air swimming.
Premier League football could return behind closed doors towards the end of June, secondary schools will reopen before the summer holidays and outdoor gatherings of up to 30 people are expected to be allowed.
Cafes could also reopen, before pubs and restaurants follow towards the end of August – although it may take until October for all remaining areas of the economy including gyms to remove their shutters.
(https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...vid-19-lockdown-exit-plan-explained-full.html)
So, a gradual, phased opening that won't be fully in place until
October. Five months away.
Does that really sound like the plan of an extremist, bloodthirsty government who's recklessly prioritising corporate greed over the lives of its own people?
As I said, I don't dispute that the Johnson government's made mistakes. But that sort of criticism is just a collection of unhinged, left-wing talking points that ignores the very real health consequences of extending an economic lockdown too long.
It's not unique to Britain, either. In America, Florida' Republican governor Ron DeSantis has been absolutely lambasted for allegedly not taking the pandemic seriously enough, while New York's Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo has been so widely praised that he's being talked about as a potential presidential contender (if Joe Biden has to pull out). Florida has so far recorded nine deaths per 100,000 people. New York's recorded 142 deaths per 100,000 people. (source:
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/05/our-nevermind-media/) Yet DeSantis is the villain and Cuomo's the hero, because politics.
It's also worth pointing out that Georgia, which eased up its restrictions a couple of weeks ago, has so far defied all predictions of a massive death spiral.
Now, I'm really not trying to politicise the pandemic. But it's so damn hard when certain media outlets - frankly, the left-wing ones - are seemingly determined to do just that.
Well, let's try this on for size. Maybe leaders who want to reopen the economy - whether that's Boris Johnson, Ron DeSantis, or anyone else - want to do it not because they're bad, greedy or incompetent people, but because they're sincerely trying to juggle more concerns than just one virus? And maybe - just maybe - lockdowns have a limited shelf-life of usefulness and there are better ways of mitigating the risk of the virus than keeping everyone cooped up indoors for an indefinite period?
