The British state shows how not to respond to a pandemic
It faced difficult circumstances. And has so far failed to rise to them
COVID-19 WAS sweeping Europe. Images of overwhelmed hospitals in Lombardy played on television every night. Governments were beginning to put in place restrictions that would last for months. And Mike Padgham, the owner of four care homes in Scarborough and Pickering, in the north-east of England, faced a dilemma. Should he shut his homes to visitors?
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Trust me, I’m a prime minister”
From the June 20th 2020 edition
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