Plague Diary: Following the Herd

The UK stands out for its eccentric response to the Coronavirus outbreak.

The Conservative government has a strategy to ‘delay’ the height of the crisis to make it easier to manage.

This might sound rational, but what this means is leaving more people vulnerable to catching the virus.

The hope is that this will help ‘immunise’ large numbers of people while making it easier for the health service to treat the most serious cases over the summer.

This is taking the notion of herd immunity and applying it to new territory.

The danger is that more elderly and sick people will be exposed to the virus in the meantime. Those are the people most likely to die from the complications of COVID-19.

No wonder some people think this is exactly what the Johnson government wants. However, others have suggested this might not be a bad idea.

“Not to put too fine a point on it, from an entirely disinterested economic perspective, the COVID-19 might even prove mildly beneficial in the long-term by disproportionately culling elderly dependents,” wrote Jeremy Warner in his column at The Daily Telegraph.

Warner later clarified his view, expressing regret at the use of the word ‘culling’. “Any thinning out of those of prime working age is a much bigger supply shock than the same thing among elderly retirees,” the economist explained.

“Obviously, for those affected, it is a human tragedy whatever the age,” he stressed, adding, “but this is a piece about economics, not the sum of human misery”.

Those words capture what many vicious right-wingers feel in their hearts, but dare never say out in the open.

We ought to applaud Warner for his candour. At least we know what he really thinks of our grandmothers.

It would be a conspiracy theory to suggest the Conservative government is deliberately trying to ‘cull’ the old (who vote Tory more than any other group) just to boost the economy.

However, the outcome could still be the same since the most vulnerable people are not being protected.

The full article can be read at The Battleground.