1. LEARN TO LIVE WITH IT

UK policy has been that #covid19 will become endemic. By adopting that defeatist policy, the government has made it more likely the virus will become endemic. The focus has been on the ‘middle way’, walking a fine line between protecting the economy...

2. ...and protecting the NHS. Result? The middle way protects neither.

Countries like China, Vietnam and New Zealand are proof that endemicity is not inevitable, that #COVIDー19 can be largely eradicated. The middle way is not protecting the economy.

3. The middle way, or ‘living with the virus’, has given the UK one of the worst mortality rates in the world.

4. Living with the virus is bringing the NHS to its knees while much of the country is subject to a lockdown in all but name.

5. Living with the virus is destroying jobs.

6. Living with the virus is damaging mental health.

7. Living with the virus is causing a wave of long-term illness.

8. Living with the virus is causing chaos in education.

9. Living with the virus is destroying the hospitality sector.

10. Living with the virus involves the slow and expensive destruction of all the things we value. It involves massive loss of life. It means we can’t see friends or family. It robs our children of opportunity and our elderly of their last years of living full lives.

11. Since February 2020, I’ve been arguing the UK government’s pandemic response is wrong and that #ZeroCovid is the only way out of this crisis. We can’t afford to go on like this, and the government’s reliance on vaccines involves real risks. https://bylinetimes.com/2020/12/01/britain-cant-put-all-its-covid-eggs-in-the-vaccine-basket/

12. We can still achieve #ZeroCovid but it will require a government that is willing to admit it got things wrong. We are currently in a semi-lockdown, so why not use it productively and with a sense of purpose? Lockdown with eradication as a target.

13. Drive down cases, implement border controls, gear up test, trace and isolate and implement policies that have worked in New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam and elsewhere. This approach would have the added benefit of giving vaccines a better chance of success.

14. Almost a year since it became clear the UK was going to go the wrong way, we’ve lost so much and spent a lot more than we needed to. The cost in lives, lost opportunity, jobs, productivity has been enormous, but it will only rise the longer the government continues its...

15. ...misguided approach. We know what works. We can see it working in other countries.

Be humble, learn from others, and have the wisdom to change direction.

#ZeroCovid https://twitter.com/adamhamdy/status/1340678713751572483