We can scarcely tell how things will look in a few days' time, let alone months, but already they're unrecognisable. Who could possibly have predicted within a couple of weeks some 390,000 people would have signed up for income support? The energy, efforts and sums expended to put the best defences we can in place, have been unparalleled. While as many as 200,000 people in the US may die even if Washington plays its response to the outbreak "almost perfectly", according Dr Deborah Birx, the response co-ordinator for the White House coronavirus task-force. But the most valuable is that responding in a uniform way is the best way to protect one another.

Source: Irish Independent March 31, 2020 01:39 UTC