Why governments get covid-19 wrong
Therapies and vaccines will come, but not for many months. Until then, politicians will have to work on the basics
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WITHIN THE next few days the global recorded deaths from covid-19 will surpass 1m. Perhaps another 1m have gone unrecorded. Since the start of the pandemic, nine months ago, the weekly cases logged by the World Health Organisation have been trending very slowly upwards and, in the seven days to September 20th, breached 2m for the first time. The virus is burning through parts of the emerging world. India has been registering over 90,000 cases a day. Some European countries that thought they had suppressed the disease are in the throes of a second wave. In America the official death toll this week exceeded 200,000; the seven-day case total is rising in 26 states.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline "Why governments get it wrong"
From the September 26th 2020 edition
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