The table below shows 250 days after first infection. Yes yes infection didn’t all start on 1 Jan but this model would only be ballpark correct if the infection started globally 6 weeks ago.
It’s easy to be wise in hindsight – except that quite a few people were saying this sort of thing, at every step of the way. I predict that in future this – the model, the politics, all of it – will become a classic study in how science policy should not be made. In the meantime, as we climb down from the heights of our panic, it’s just so fascinating to witness ideas that start off as dangerous – like “maybe we shouldn’t be locking down” – gradually become more common, and to feel the tug in oneself of trying to decide who to trust.
The usual disclaimer: I’m not saying the virus isn’t dangerous, that lives don’t matter, that we should do nothing… just that we haven’t reacted well.
CPEMPH 