More lockdowns to come?

Finance and economy expert, Zeeshan Syed, said: “Locking down nearly 66 million people is a difficult decision any PM may ever have to make. However, this choice has proven effective every time and will do so in the future. The challenge is that every successive lockdown needs to be more severe than the last lockdown, and no lockdown is guaranteed to be the last lockdown. Hence, full lockdowns such as the current one is part of the problem rather than a solution.  

“Boris Johnson shows a lack of understanding of this phenomenon; he still believes after this lockdown we can one day go back to pre-March 2020 and never have to lockdown again. Neither is guaranteed, and we may need another lockdown.

“We, therefore, need to accept and plan for socially and economically stratified lockdowns for foreseeable future. Rather than ending the current lockdown, if we want to prevent another full lockdown, we need to keep some of it. The new strategy could be where parts of society that are less vulnerable to pandemics should be allowed to open. Sectors that can cause the pandemic may have to sacrifice for a little longer.

“We need our PM to understand and accept this fact. He needs to accept that opening the entire country would be fatal and closing again the entire country would be suicidal. We need him to understand this before he takes the next steps. 

“A future strategy to deal with Covid-19 is not only about locking down or vaccination. But it must be about diversifying and pandemic proofing our economy and society on an emergency basis. We need the leisure sector that is subsidized and helped to open larger venues. We need an education sector that can compete with online universities in terms of costs and still maintain their education quality.

“The question is that does Boris Johnson understands this, or he thinks that we all “…can go whistle”.”