U.K. Shows U.S. the Need for Urgent Covid-19 Action

The emergence in the U.K. of a new and more infectious variant of the Covid-19 virus sharpens an important “contrast and compare” health analysis between that country and the U.S. It sheds important new light on the immediate challenge the administration of President-elect Joe Biden will need to overcome if it is to have any realistic prospect of quelling the public health crisis by the middle of the year and of restoring inclusive and sustainable economic dynamism to the U.S. economy. It will also inform the continuing debate about what the deplorable mob attack on Congress on Wednesday means for the future of the U.S.

The U.K. imposed its third national lockdown this week. It is stricter and expected to last longer than the one last November. The decision, driven by the mutation of the virus, comes amid an extremely concerning surge in daily infections (topping 60,000); hospitalizations (higher than at any time during this health crisis); and deaths (topping 1,000 a day). And while this new variant, unlike the one in South Africa, is not believed to undermine existing therapeutics and vaccines, it does significantly increase the pressure on an already stretched National Health Service.