Europe’s long Covid: things aren’t getting better any time soon

China is now suffering only mild symptoms from the global pandemic. It is Europe that is stuck with the dreaded long Covid. The Chinese economy has rebounded and its exports are going through the roof, as it sells medical equipment to a world devastated by the pandemic it covered up. The virus originated in Wuhan, yet China has avoided much of the pain, despite how slow Beijing was to admit to the initial outbreak. But eurozone economies were a tenth smaller this spring than at the start of the year.

Only a few weeks ago, it had seemed that Britain — and Europe — was on a steady path to recovery. The UK economy seemed to be bouncing back. This stood to reason: we have significantly more control over Covid-19 than we did in March. We’re armed with more facts, including fatality rates — 0.05 per cent for under-seventies. Treatments have come a long way.