The Covid crisis: some people think it’s all over … it isn’t

A new reality check is coming unless the west replicates its whatever-it-takes approach' to help poorer countries cope

Denial. Panic. False dawn. Relief mingled with a decent dollop of euphoria. Britain's response to Covid-19 has moved through distinct phases, and there are at least two more to come. Despite the success of the vaccine programme, a look around the world - to India, to Chile, to Brazil, to France and Germany - can lead to only one conclusion: this is not over yet.

The early stages of the crisis are now easy to document. The denial phase lasted from the first cases of Covid-19 being reported in China towards the end of 2019 until the middle of March 2020. Initially, perhaps, some scepticism was warranted because there had been talk of global pandemics in the past that had not lived up to their horror-show billing.

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