This is very interesting and belongs in the “edgy” thread.
UK policy is being pushed by the media and looking at what everyone else is doing. A lockdown became the politically expedient thing to do. A mixture of fear (which is not a bad thing initially) and the idea of a “great national effort” (which I think is a lot more dangerous) has driven this. Once framed like the latter, it made things more difficult to reopen as people think we can actually wipe this out. The death total is being watched daily and people will go ape if you reopen and deaths continue.
There is a strong element of that here - particularly when you see how certain businesses voluntarily closed down around the place (including those deemed essential, like coffee shops) and have decided to just reopen in the last week or so as it has become clear that the Government have no roadmap for reopening the country. The Government did not officially close down the pubs until late March as that was not what the public health guidance suggested at the time - but Simon Harris got worried looking at people going ape on Twitter over tourists in Temple Bar so guilt tripped the Vinters into closing early.
The Swedes and the Danes have been decisive with their decisions, one way or the other. Both are looking to work within the best information they have and there are great signs of innovation coming out;
Simon Harris keeps quoting that Sligo roaster from the WHO’s viral clip (it could be nothing but that for Harris, social media guides all) of “speed beats perfection”, but Harris is now dragging his feet over any kind of roadmap as he is petrified of not just a resurge in cases, but being blamed for when deaths continue after any element of a reopening. Instead of actively engaging industries like tourism, the pubs and sporting bodies, he is having a photoshoot and telling people that their livelihoods are quite possibly gone through the media. This will have huge ramifications for the economy, not just the industries mentioned, but all industries. Instead of trying to be proactive, he is being gloomy. He goes on about a vaccine, but what if one never emerges? Can Harris tell us what level of ongoing Covid infection we can live with? Why can’t the government put together a roadmap like other countries have announced?
I think Ireland did a lot of good things early on this, bowing to social media pressure a couple of times excepted. Most people generally started practicing social distancing early. We didn’t lockdown all at once and nor did we move to totally draconian things like shutting down parks. We reacted to weaknesses in our healthcare system by tooling up. We strove to test a lot and put in contact tracing. It wasn’t perfect but it was a good strong effort and you’d have a lot more confidence in our figures than other countries, but we are being slow to react now.