Guernsey Press

States should be commended for its actions

THE States should be commended for their effective action so far on the coronavirus. Without suppression through lockdown, the virus infection could double every three days. Our health system would not have coped. It is estimated that if China had locked down one week sooner it could have prevented two-thirds of the cases that occurred later. If the city of Wuhan itself had acted three weeks earlier, 95% of the cases could have been stopped and a nationwide lockdown prevented.

Published

South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore have demonstrated effective epidemic control through strict border control, aggressive testing, contact tracing, temperature screening and social isolation. While the economic impact in the short-term has been severe, their governments can now plan to move back towards economic normality through a gradual shift from high-intensity containment to lower-intensity vigilance.

The States’ action should reduce the extent of physical suffering but it should also, with other States measures, help to mitigate the consequent economic hardship which follows. This should allow a gradual shift from high impact policies with unsustainable social and economic costs (closure of schools, non-essential services and businesses) back towards a high impact but low cost policy of testing, contact tracing and public hygiene. Meanwhile, we are fortunate to have an economy so dependent on an industry, finance, which can still generate income by working from home while there is a broadband infrastructure sufficient to facilitate it.

CHRIS RUSSELL

1F, Tudor House,

Le Bordage,

St Peter Port,

Guernsey,

GY1 1DB.