Whether and when to relax the coronavirus lockdown has become the big political talking point across Europe, the United States and elsewhere. All have imposed social distancing rules and banned any sort of gathering, such as in offices, factories, shops, restaurants, theatres and sports stadiums. And churches. In every case the rate of spread of the virus in the general population has effectively been reduced to the point where the disease can be said to be contained.

The key word here is “prudence”, which means assessing the risks and making a carefully balanced judgement. Part of the impetus to relax the lockdown comes from commerce and industry, where the economic damage has already been massive. Many jobs have been lost, and some businesses could be extinguished altogether, making it much harder to revive the economy after the lockdown is over.