Instead, our national conversation seems to be either about:
- going back to normality
- or building systems to beat it.
What if we can't do either?
But this isn't because the region is too over-populated or poor. It is down to bad governance.
If a relatively poor state like Kerela can manage to control it, the rest should have managed too.
theguardian.com/world/2020/may…
Brazil's official death-toll is now the second highest in the world.
opendemocracy.net/en/democraciaa…
"The world has agreed, the richest countries have come to the conclusion that the virus will spread no matter what. Nothing can be done about it.”
npr.org/sections/coron…
But I'm increasingly convinced this isn't sustainable.
1) Bad governance in large parts of the world (U.S., S Asia, Latin America) and no international planning.
2) Social distancing and face masks not enough.
3) Lockdown will cost more jobs (our economies aren't resilient enough)
I think the evidence fairly conclusive now: it won't be enough.
Parts of Australia are seeing a spike again:
Why? Hidden, community transmission
This worrying new report in the NYT shows scientists are now realising the coronavirus spreads far more than they realised - quietly, through asymptomatic people.
nytimes.com/2020/06/27/wor…
But community transmission from places of worship, where large numbers gather together, is a big problem.
This is a coming disaster
barficulture.tv/politics/613
Let's say Europe and East Asia, through good governance, manage to control the virus better than the US, S Asia, Africa and LatAm.
What then? Do we ban travel from those areas?
The EU is looking at exactly this!
nytimes.com/2020/06/23/wor…
1) International travel is going to stay a nightmare. A *LOT* ofg jobs are going to be lost in the sector.
2) Mass events will have to remain restricted for longer. Commuting and enclosed spaces will remain risky for years.
3) What happens to 70+ and vulnerable people?
The impact of that on all our jobs, since we work in economies that aren't very resilient, is going to be devastating.
I'm an optimist!
But we have underestimated this virus at every step.
We haven't responded well so far because our governments have been unwilling to look clearly at it. We can't keep doing that.