“We really do have to learn how to coexist with this virus in a way that doesn’t require constant closing down of economies.” That sound like something Trump said? It isn’t. It does sound like what he and others in the administration and some Republican members of congress have said, not to mention writers and bloggers and thousands on Twitter.
But in this case it was the WHO’s Dr. David Nabarro, special envoy on Covid-19, who calls the consequences of global lockdowns a “ghastly global catastrophe.” He had a lot to say actually that sounds like what so many conservatives have been saying.
“We really do have to learn how to coexist with this virus in a way that doesn’t require constant closing down of economies. But at the same time in a way that is not associated with high levels of suffering and death. It’s what we’re calling the middle path,” he said. “The middle path is about being able to hold the virus at bay whilst keeping economic and social life going.”
“We in the World Health Organization do not advocate lockdowns as the primary means of control of this virus,” he told Spectator TV. “The only time we believe a lockdown is justified is to buy you time to reorganize, regroup, rebalance your resources, protect your health workers who are exhausted, but by and large, we’d rather not do it.”
He also said something that should be obvious. “Lockdowns just have one consequence that you must never ever belittle, and that is making poor people an awful lot poorer.”
