Little England’s Big COVID Problem
The United Kingdom’s spiraling COVID-19 infection and death rates can best be understood as reflecting a tragic, and distinctly English, set of failures and delusions. The exceptionalism widely championed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other Brexiteers is proving fatal.
LONDON – In late September, English schoolchildren were sent home with a letter from Public Health England, the official body in charge of dealing with the pandemic. It warned parents not to have their kids tested for COVID-19 unless they had one of three symptoms: a fever, a continuous dry cough, or a loss of smell or taste.