Lockdowns Are Needed, So Let's Make Them Work
Until vaccines can reach the general public, targeted shutdowns and curfews with predictable timing could keep economies afloat and people connected.
It's not over.
Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg
With several promising vaccines now in the pipeline, we're moving into the “hanging on” stage of the coronavirus pandemic: until vaccines can be deployed en masse. The U.K. became the first Western country to approve a Covid-19 shot, but the rollout won’t be immediate for everyone. Keeping the epidemic in check until then — most likely in the next few months — will demand more mask wearing, testing and tracing, and, almost certainly, curfews and lockdowns of some variety. Many European nations have returned to those conditions (or finally enacted them), as have a number of cities and states in the U.S.
Even so, we’ve grown increasingly aware of the social and psychological costs of lockdowns. They clearly work to bring cases down yet put stress on almost everyone, crushing small businesses, and depriving children of education and social connection. Perhaps not surprisingly, we’re seeing rising lockdown resistance.