A pandemic is like a war, not only because people die or because it dominates everything. Pandemics can shatter illusions of competence. Failure in managing a pandemic reveals gaps between bombast and reality. So it has been with Covid-19. The UK has had a notably bad pandemic. I fear that the decision to open up is going to prove to be more of the same.

The UK has the world’s second highest official death rate per million, behind Belgium, surpassing Italy and Spain, despite being hit later. While its testing capacity has improved, the number of tests per confirmed case lags far behind those in New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan, South Korea, Germany and Italy.

One explanation for the high death rate is the delayed response: the higher the infection rate when lockdowns were imposed, the higher the mortality rate. Yet there is more to the story than that delay. An article by Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and others notes more failures: a lack of co-ordination with devolved governments and local authorities; failed procurement of essential goods and services; failures of co-ordination between government, NHS, Public Health England and local public health departments; and the chaotic co-ordination with our European neighbours.