Lives Versus Livelihoods: Japan Times

COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China, and China imposed strict lockdown measures for 70 days. The city has reopened with officials screening temperatures and citizen movements. Other nations, especially the United States, hope to reopen economies after 30 days of lockdown isolation with less stringent measures. “Everybody knows that you can’t shut the economy down indefinitely, but nobody wants to risk a second wave of infections by moving too soon,” writes Gwynne Dyer for the Japan Times. Early economic closures in nations like Germany and New Zealand, contributed to lower infection rates. Taiwan and South Korea did not shutter economies, yet with widespread testing and contact tracing, kept infections low. “Any countries that have their infection rate down and have their testing and tracing teams ready can start reopening their economies, although there will be a continuing low but steady toll of deaths until a vaccine is found,” Dyer concludes. A major consideration is health care and hospital bed capacity. He suggests that France Canada and Australia – countries that had early starts – can reopen sooner than the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil and India. Governments may try reopening economies quickly, but cautious consumers may continue isolation on their own. Delayed, sloppy responses combined with poor health care systems will influence election outcomes in the months ahead. – YaleGlobal