Trusting The Science

Not long before the Coronavirus pandemic hit, there was a BBC programme by the brilliant scientist Hannah Fry which set how how, if a pandemic hit, how and why it would spread.
With unfortuitous timing, we were soon able to compare the programme with the real thing as we watched the news with growing horror as Covid-19 spread across Asia then ran through Europe and turned up on our shores early 2020 with devastating and deadly consequences.
Thirteen months later it appears to be the beginning of the end of the virus in the 'rich' nations armed with vaccines although it is stil ripping through the rest of the World with catastrophic results.
You can see from the figures how some Governments played it well, New Zealand, Australia and most of the Far East nations have relatively low numbers where some Governments had a disastrous time such as the UK, US, Brazil and India where death tolls make up a high percentage of the global death tolls.
It is no surprise that the nations with the highest numbers are run by leaders who either dismissed or downplayed the virus despite the scientists were screaming what was coming and what had to be done but despite the assurance that they were following the science, science was definitely shoved to one side.
The mask debate was never really a thing in the UK, people took to wearing them pretty quickly but in the US it became more of an issue and seemed to split down between political lines led by the awful Donald Trump who was keen to dismiss the advice of the leading Scientist, Dr Anthony Fauci, and instead handed out his own sage advice such as suggesting drinking bleach would work.
If we learn anything from our recent experiences for the next time, and there will be a next time, it is that Scientists should be not only listened to but acted upon because the places which adhered to scientific advice and locked down quickly avoided the fate of the other nations which sidelined the scientists and made Covid-19 a virus proven to be serious but manageable, made much worse due to the likes of the science dodging Trump, Johnson, Bolsonaro and Modi.