Earlier in the year, Dr Stephen Davies authored a briefing paper titled: “Going Viral: The History and Economics of Pandemics”. In it, he identified how most viral pandemics last for two years. With that in mind, he concluded, this crisis could be behind us by Summer 2021.

How is this knowledge influencing policymaking, if at all? What impact is it having on government responses across the globe. And, in the UK, does it strengthen the case for harsher measures, or should we instead by shielding the elderly and vulnerable until the crisis has passed?

What can we learn from historical precedent – could Covid-19 involve into a more benign, less virulent strain, and could this pandemic be over within the next nine months?

On the panel:

Dr Stephen Davies, Head of Education, Institute of Economic Affairs

Professor Karol Sikora, Founding Dean of the Medicine School, University of Buckingham

Laura Spinney, Science journalist and author of “Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World”.

Tom Whipple, Science Editor, The Times

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