The consequences of the Covid-19 lockdown: what does history teach us?

di Sergio Beraldo

Last February, this website hosted an article titled «The unintended consequences of coronavirus». At the time the article was published, the situation was not at all dramatic in Europe. For example, the official Covid-19 figures in Italy and Germany mentioned very limited number of cases. Governments were confident that everything would be under control, as witnessed by the fact that on February 15, two tons of medical equipment were shipped to China.

In hindsight, it is apparent that most health authorities were not at all ready to cope with the virus. Large numbers of healthcare workers got infected; ventilators and other types of medical equipment were in short supply; many political leaders lacked a strategy, let alone a plan.

Yet, news from China were leaking since the end of 2019, and many governments seemed to be better informed about what was happening than they have admitted. It is surprising that most health authorities failed to take action. US president Donald Trump tried to persuade Americans that Covid-19 was similar to a regular flu, and it took him a while to admit he was mistaken and change tack. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that many families would have to accept the risk of losing some of their loved ones so as to reach herd immunity. He then changed his mind, just before he was moved to intensive care. The World Health Organization’s behaviour has also been puzzling. For example, it took them weeks to recognise that face-masks are useful, it took them months to produce sensible broad guidelines on what to do, and it took them until mid-April 2020 to recognise that wet markets - selling fresh produce and live animals butchered in the open air – contribute to spreading the virus. [keep on free reading at: https://en.irefeurope.org/Publications/Online-Articles/article/The-consequences-of-the-Covid-19-lockdown-what-does-history-teach-us]