It can be argued that virtually all the government’s responses to the coronavirus have been inadequate, from the testing fiasco to the failure to swiftly close our borders to infected arrivals (in contrast to countries such as Australia), the shambles of the track-and-trace plans, the disaster of transferring infected geriatric patients from NHS hospital beds to care homes, and the fact that we remain in near lockdown after 14 weeks of, in effect, house arrest. However, it is undeniable that one government programme has succeeded beyond measure: the campaign to scare the country witless. Since the initial lockdown in March, messages such as “Stay at Home”, “Protect the NHS” and “Save Lives” have been ubiquitous across every possible form of media. The absence of many

Source: The Times June 27, 2020 23:04 UTC