When Covid-19 began to spread rapidly in January 2020, governments across the world had limited strategies to deal with it. Sweden allowed the virus to spread through the population before realising health systems could not cope with an influx of Covid-19 patients. Meanwhile, European countries including England and France controlled the virus through a cycle of lockdown measures while keeping borders largely open. We now have safe and effective vaccines, treatments and mass testing, which permit governments to rethink their initial strategies and form a more sustainable plan for the future. For countries that can’t afford vaccines, technology or treatments for Covid-19, populations will remain trapped by outbreaks that cause chaos in hospitals and kill health workers and vulnerable and elderly people.

Source: The Guardian May 31, 2021 12:45 UTC