Thursday, 12 March 2020

We have a crisis in our hands


In some European countries, today we have reached a turning point. They have adopted very stringent measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic. 

The decisions have nothing to do with President Trump’s harsh words about us, words that were pronounced yesterday, when he was announcing the entry ban on European visitors. 

Today’s measures, adopted in France, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Portugal and elsewhere, are just an indication of the level of risk we are confronted with. The pandemic is a major menace, that was the message coming from the different governments. It is huge because nobody knows the dimension it might get, nobody is in a position to guess a timeframe but everyone sees it will have a major impact on human lives, on public resources, on living standards, on lots of economic, financial and social aspects.

In view of that, the preventive measures can only be of an extraordinary nature. Some might seem disproportionate, but who knows what is reasonable or excessive, in a crisis of this dimension?


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