Whatever Johnson says, we can’t defeat Covid with ‘personal responsibility’ alone

Making measures such as mask-wearing a matter of individual choice sends a message that they’re no longer important

People wearing face masks among crowds of pedestrians in Covent Garden, London. 

At a time when Covid cases in Britain stand at some 25,000 per day and are doubling every nine days or so, the British government has chosen to lift nearly all remaining Covid measures.

UK prime minister Boris Johnson stressed in a press conference earlier this week that this didn’t mean the pandemic was over. Far from it. He acknowledged the policy change would lead to even more infections, hospitalisations, even deaths.