EDINBURGH (Scotland) • This spring, when Western Europe became an epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, countries imposed strict lockdowns: In France, a person needed a permit to go shopping; Spain required children to stay indoors the entire day; in Scotland and Wales, people could go outside for a walk only once a day and had to stay within an 8km radius. Thanks to this, European countries were able to not only flatten the Covid-19 curve but to also keep levels of infection very low.

But as the weeks went by, the pressure to reopen society grew. People wanted their pre-pandemic lives back. They wanted dynamic economies to protect their jobs; they wanted their children educated in schools; they wanted nights out at the pub and visits to their friends. And they really wanted summer vacations.