Take example from Asia

In the combat against the coronavirus, Europe should learn from the experiences of China, South Korea and Macau. They were confronted with huge challenges and have found the way to respond to them. They based their responses on massive lockdowns, extensive testing and social isolation for everyone. In the case of China, the approach was complemented by building new hospitals in incredibly short periods of time and the mobilisation of every possible resource to produce simple intensive care equipment, protection medical suits, and the appropriate masks. In all three cases, the success was a combination of extreme civic discipline with the right type of hospital treatment.

Europe is now at the door of major expansion of the disease. It should be ready to coordinate its response. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. But, at least, it should keep as many people out of the public space as possible, for a small number of weeks. It would see the difference.

Unfortunately, many people have not yet grasped the intensity of the menace. The leaders should be frank about it. They should use the right words to explain the possible impact of the disease. To say that they do not want to contribute to alarmism is not an acceptable response. Europeans can handle hard truths if they are told the full story. It is my conviction that the leaders need to agree on a common European-wide discourse about COVID-19 and talk to the citizens based on that agreed music sheet. A lot of the success has to do with people’s behaviour. They should be told what the consequences of good or bad behaviour are.