Countries that couldn’t HANDLE Covid-19 (did you get the pun?)
Some countries have managed, others haven’t, what went wrong?
Written by: Halima K
Evidently, the closing of borders appeared to be the most effective strategy in defeating Covid-19, yet so many countries refused to take this route and are now being held hostage by the covid virus. Let’s take a look at one example:
UK (4,201,358 cases, 140,062 deaths as of 04/03/21)
Despite having one of the highest numbers of Covid-19 cases and deaths, the UK’s borders remain open.
They have also recently found a new variant of the South African strand which caused us into the lastest national lockdown. But even more recently, discovered a Brazilian variant, this isn’t looking too good if you ask me.
PM Boris Johnson has already set out a “roadmap” to ease lockdown restrictions, even though daily case numbers are still high. After taking us into a national lockdown for the third time, is this really the right decision? And can we trust our PM?
On the one hand, according to a survey by Opinium, 36% of people trust our PM’s decisions regarding the virus. But is this because they agree with him, or cause they’d like to return to normal sooner, even if it isn’t the right choice?
As for the other 64%, it’s not the first time the UK PM has shown incompetency in his actions. I don’t think I need to remind you of his Christmas promise to mix households that he retracted just days before, despite being warned beforehand.
So, let’s go back to France.
Right now, 60% of the nation’s intensive care beds are now occupied by Covid-19 patients.
Over 78,000 people have died because of the virus making it the seventh-highest tally in the world. Despite this schools remain open, sound familiar?
The UK also kept schools open longer than most people had hoped, causing an inflation of the virus and deaths that could have been prevented. This makes it 5th on the tally for most covid deaths.
With France not far from following the UK’s lead, currently, there is a 12 hour a day curfew in place. Shopping centres are being closed and there are limitations on travel to and from overseas countries. However, despite this France could soon need to move into a third lockdown due to the fast-spreading variant.
Closing borders should definitely have been a priority for these countries, however, although France closed its borders to all international countries outside the EU from the 31st of January 2021. The UK is yet to learn its lesson.
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