How are you finding business at the moment, CSD.... and what are you learning from clients i.e. are the journeys largely covered within essential/permitted travel guidelines?
We’ll have a lot to learn from many countries around the world as time progresses. That will be a job for the civil service, the unelected bureaucrats in Europe and the WHO. In the meantime we cannot underestimate the importance of following the advice of our local Govt. They and their experts know how quickly or slowly we can afford to allow the virus spread, most particularly in accordance with HSE front line capacity.
New Zealand is probably the most interesting case in terms of slowing the spread. In fact its stringent restrictions on movement and borders have come as close as is probably reasonably possible to stopping rather than slowing the spread. With a similar population to Ireland it has only recorded 1,129 cases and 19 deaths.
Sweden might not seem like a great example with 20,302 cases and 2,462 deaths compared to Ireland’s 20,253 cases and 1,190 deaths. However, as noted above, its policy has been focussed on a faster spread with a lot of eggs in the community immunity basket which may become increasingly relevant going forward. It has issued most of the social distancing advice as us i.e. work from home where possible, only travel where essential, etc and it has placed a ban on gatherings of 50 or more people. Obviously, with significantly higher alcohol prices than us it doesn’t share our pub/cafe culture and didn’t opt to close those businesses.
So, what can we learn from Sweden? Sweden’s tax to GDP ratio is c.44% compared to our 22%. Higher taxation facilitates greater redistribution of wealth, increased pension provision and greater investment in public services like education and healthcare. All of those factors could contribute to being better prepared going forward.
If we look at Denmark we find a country with a similar tax to GDP ratio as Sweden in the same geographical area and similar cultural traits. Denmark’s population is c.55% of that of Sweden and it has experienced 9,008 coronavirus cases with 443 deaths, both figures obviously significantly lower on a per capita basis. The fact that Denmark implemented more stringent “lockdown” measures than Sweden suggests that such measures do work, at least as a method of rationing demands for healthcare and funeral services.
The case for significantly higher taxation is probably clear at this stage but who knows what else we might learn. What would the fake media say if doctors start prescribing Dettol and Domestos transfusions become commonplace on our hospital wards?
