When you think about coronavirus, what is your thought process? Perhaps if you are a policymaker or a global business leader you think about the hit to economic growth. But otherwise the likelihood is that your thoughts are of the risk to you and your family, followed by concentric rings of friends, colleagues and so on. Do we have vulnerable relatives? How will we get to work? Will my job be safe? Should I stockpile?
For now, Boris Johnson’s government is being judged impressionistically on its handling of the crisis in the UK. Voters are giving him the benefit of the doubt. Brits can congratulate themselves on the measured intelligence of Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, and an evidence-based debate over whether to shut down parts of the economy.
But then the UK is still measuring the outbreak in the hundreds. Ultimately the response will be judged by the population’s direct experience. Were the desperately ill denied respirators or hospital beds? Did the National Health Service care for our mothers? Did shops run out of food? An NHS unable to cope will do Mr Johnson damage, hence the emphasis on slowing the spread.