Up until 40 years ago, before privatisation foisted cost-benefit analysis and accountancy into major infrastructure projects, things built the world over were built to last.

Indeed, most of that infrastructure still stands today. Victorian railways are always a good example.

Our response to COVID-19 has shown up 40 years of parsimonious chicanery for what it is.

Our health & care sectors & pandemic response are a mere afterthought - with minimal financial outlays that deliver borderline efficiency while allowing for robust corporate profit.

We cannot afford to allow the same purpose-complacent model to be permitted to drive the long term solution to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Just enough" will not be enough
"Satisfactory" will not be satisfactory

The solution should be old fashioned, not radical or novel.

We need a system of testing, tracing & isolating - built with a singular purpose - To stop diseases from stopping us & we will need that indefinitely

We can't be afraid of what such a system will cost us nor should we ever apologise for what it does end up costing.

It's very simple. We either do this right the first time out of the box - or we keep fighting wave after wave after wave until we finally do.

The cost of doing this properly once will be infinitesimal compared with the cost of repeated false dawns.