We're at a cross-roads. The deepest thinkers and strategists in the United Kingdom have come to a stark conclusion that was expressed today in the lead article on the front page of The Times by the new Health Secretary:
Sajid Javid told MPs this afternoon that he views July 19 as the “end of the line” for
lockdown restrictions as he said the nation must learn to live with coronavirus.
NZ and Australia, by contrast, are still pursuing an elimination strategy. The two approaches are polar opposites. Meanwhile, the British Press, and others, have begun to savage the Australian approach. The Guardian reports:
The outbreak has renewed questions about Australia’s stuttering vaccination
programme and limited quarantine facilities, both of which are responsibilities of the
federal government ... Australia has one of the lowest vaccination rates of any
developed country, with less than 5% of the population fully vaccinated, and it has only
one dedicated quarantine facility, using hotels for other returned citizens.
Similar observations apply to NZ. How's this going to end? Something has to give.
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