The Economist A special edition on the coronavirus pandemic

From: The Economist this week - Saturday Jun 20, 2020 11:11 am


	June 20th 2020	Read in browser


	The Economist this week

	Our coverage of the new coronavirus

Welcome to the newsletter highlighting The Economist’s best writing on the pandemic. We have three covers this week. In our UK edition we analyse why Britain has come to have the highest overall death rate of any country in the rich world. Britain was always going to struggle with covid-19. London is an international hub, Britons are fatter than their fellow Europeans and the United Kingdom has a high share of ethnic-minority people, who are especially vulnerable to the disease. Yet the government has been slow to increase testing, identify a contact-tracing app, stop visits to care homes, ban big public events, provide health workers with personal protective equipment, and require people to wear face coverings on public transport. The painful conclusion is that Britain has the wrong government for a pandemic.

In our Americas edition we report on the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos. He is perhaps the 21st century’s most important tycoon, who has created its fourth most valuable firm. But Amazon faces problems: a fraying social contract, financial bloating and re-energised competition.

In our other editions we look at the state of the world, 75 years after the creation of the United Nations. The UN, and the system of global norms and institutions it represents, is struggling to cope with the rise of China, and the neglect—antipathy even—of the country that was its chief architect and sponsor, the United States.

Our coverage of covid-19 focuses on Britain. Before the virus struck, Britain was thought to be well-prepared. What went wrong? We look at a promising—and cheap—new drug. We report on a new outbreak in Beijing, on African countries’ battle to keep track of the virus and on Uruguay’s startling success in controlling it. Lastly, our security correspondent asks whether a pandemic such as covid-19 tends to raise the risk of conflict.

Our mortality tracker uses the gap between the total number of people who have died from any cause and the historical average for the time of year to estimate how many deaths from covid-19 the official statistics are failing to pick up.

We have also been looking at the pandemic in Economist Radio and Economist Films. One episode of our daily podcast, “The Intelligence”, focused on covid-19’s sometimes unexpected effects. It featured items on the merchant seamen stranded at sea, on misinformation and on the high price of British puppies.

This weekend marks the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. There was a hope that the hot weather would kill the virus off. Sadly, it is still gathering pace.

Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor-in-Chief


	Editor’s picks

	Must-reads from our recent coverage

How not to respond to a pandemic
Trust me, I’m a prime minister

The British state faced difficult circumstances. It has so far failed to rise to them

Britain

Drug discovery
Small ticket, big difference

A cheap steroid cuts deaths from severe covid-19

Britain

Fighting the pandemic
It’s back

An outbreak of covid-19 in Beijing is causing alarm

China

Covid-19 in Africa
Testing times

African countries are struggling to keep track of the coronavirus

Middle East and Africa

Uruguay
Standing apart

How a former buffer state is controlling the coronavirus

The Americas

Pandemics and war
Horsemen of the apocalypse

Covid-19 raises the risks of violent conflict

International

Data on the pandemic
Tracking excess deaths across countries

Official death tolls still undercount the true number of fatalities

Graphic detail


	From Economist Radio

Podcast
How the pandemic forgot merchant seamen

Also on “The Intelligence”: the political dimension of misinformation and why Britain’s pedigree puppies have got pricier

This e-mail has been sent to: newsletter@gmail.com
If you'd like to update your details please click here (you may need to log in).
Replies to this e-mail will not reach us.

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, unsubscribe here.

Advertising Info | Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Help

Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2020. All rights reserved.
Registered in England and Wales. No.236383
Registered office: The Adelphi, 1-11 John Adam Street, London, WC2N 6HT

The Economist Newsletters

The Economist A special edition on the coronavirus pandemic