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One of those Eastern European states - the Czech Republic - was actually the big European success story everyone in the UK press pointed to as proof that the UK

by makomk 5y ago

One of those Eastern European states - the Czech Republic - was actually the big European success story everyone in the UK press pointed to as proof that the UK should've been able to do better if we had competent leaders. They ended up with the worst Covid deaths per capita in Europe until their neighbours overtook them, and yet I'm sure they still contribute to the belief the UK failed. In reality it seems like they were the ones who got lucky early on and had the chance to do well but failed to take advantage of that, with issues like poor vaccine uptake there. On the other hand, the cities which got hit next after Italy were New York and London, both of which had lots of travel from Milan due to Fashion Week right around the time there was massive undetected community spread there. That's definitely unlucky.

pasabagi 5y ago
Well, that's the other thing: there was a time when the UK did have top-tier per-capita death rates, so that's where the idea came from that the UK was 'number one'. In regards to CR, you would expect the Czech republic to do worse than the UK. They have an older population, somewhat poor state, and a horrible vaccination rate (63%). The continuing perception also probably comes down to the personality of Boris Johnson. You can't go around shaking hands, calling it 'kung flu', party through the lockdowns, then expect people to see you as an ideal leader in an emergency situation.
- unfocussed_mike 5y ago
  > Well, that's the other thing: there was a time when the UK did have top-tier per-capita death rates, so that's where the idea came from that the UK was 'number one'. I fully agree with this. > In regards to CR, you would expect the Czech republic to do worse than the UK. They have an older population, somewhat poor state, and a horrible vaccination rate (63%). But not this. The Czech Republic began to handle Covid badly before vaccination was even possible; it's not sensible to blame their low vaccination rates for their troubles. You only have to look at the speed with which things went wrong in Autumn 2020 (and the fact that their early autumn death rate peak was as bad as their mid-winter death rate peak, unlike most countries with mitigations in place) to see that their problem was fundamentally that they had failed to act politically in the quieter summer months; complacency is the issue. This was pretty widely reported-on in the media at the time; people were very surprised at how the mask-wearing success story had messed it up so badly. By that time even the UK was culturally better prepared for accepting restrictions; our autumn wave was considerably blunted by them.
unfocussed_mike 5y ago
Complacency is absolutely what did the damage in the Czech Republic, complicated by antivax sentiment later on. They didn't get lucky -- mask policy really helped -- but the political class then foolishly began to believe the worst was over. Believing the worst was over, ignoring nascent evidence that it was not, and constructing policy around that belief, and then reversing it when the truth entered the chat also explains our lurching bouts of competence and incompetence in the UK.

by makomk 5y ago

pasabagi 5y ago

Well, that's the other thing: there was a time when the UK did have top-tier per-capita death rates, so that's where the idea came from that the UK was 'number one'. In regards to CR, you would expect the Czech republic to do worse than the UK. They have an older population, somewhat poor state, and a horrible vaccination rate (63%). The continuing perception also probably comes down to the personality of Boris Johnson. You can't go around shaking hands, calling it 'kung flu', party through the lockdowns, then expect people to see you as an ideal leader in an emergency situation.

unfocussed_mike 5y ago
> Well, that's the other thing: there was a time when the UK did have top-tier per-capita death rates, so that's where the idea came from that the UK was 'number one'. I fully agree with this. > In regards to CR, you would expect the Czech republic to do worse than the UK. They have an older population, somewhat poor state, and a horrible vaccination rate (63%). But not this. The Czech Republic began to handle Covid badly before vaccination was even possible; it's not sensible to blame their low vaccination rates for their troubles. You only have to look at the speed with which things went wrong in Autumn 2020 (and the fact that their early autumn death rate peak was as bad as their mid-winter death rate peak, unlike most countries with mitigations in place) to see that their problem was fundamentally that they had failed to act politically in the quieter summer months; complacency is the issue. This was pretty widely reported-on in the media at the time; people were very surprised at how the mask-wearing success story had messed it up so badly. By that time even the UK was culturally better prepared for accepting restrictions; our autumn wave was considerably blunted by them.

unfocussed_mike 5y ago

Complacency is absolutely what did the damage in the Czech Republic, complicated by antivax sentiment later on. They didn't get lucky -- mask policy really helped -- but the political class then foolishly began to believe the worst was over. Believing the worst was over, ignoring nascent evidence that it was not, and constructing policy around that belief, and then reversing it when the truth entered the chat also explains our lurching bouts of competence and incompetence in the UK.