1/ Just read the Sunday Times article in full - the one from which Cummings' reported thoughts on coronavirus are taken - and it is even more damning. It is a nuanced, fairly sympathetic account and it still paints a picture of people largely inadequate for the challenge.
2/ There are still people within the camp framing this issue in comparison with flu, even though doctors in Italy are telling us that this framing is unhelpful: kslnewsradio.com/1921643/corona…
3/ There's this weird framing of coronavirus as an intergenerational question, as if it isn't also killing young people, as the New York Times reminds us here: nytimes.com/interactive/20…
4/ There's a moment when the medical advisers realise, just seven days later, that their strategy will lead to *five* times as many deaths as they estimated.
5/ There's a segment where the author discusses and praises the forensic detail of the chancellor's relief plan, but that detail despite being forensic makes no mention of self-employed people, a large part of the UK's workforce.
6/ It's a long read and I think an essential one. The Prime Minister is out of his depth - this is someone who was happy to buy water cannons for the London riots but who can't call for a sensible lockdown to defend public health against a virus.
7/ The article actually paints the Prime Minister in a fairly kind light. He doesn't come across as nasty; he is said behind the scenes to be highly decisive: but overall, he just comes across as incompetent. The whole article (paywalled) is here: thetimes.co.uk/article/corona…
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