The U.S. and Britain’s coronavirus calamities

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On both sides of the pond, the historical metaphors are grim. In Britain, tabloids characterize the country’s coronavirus death toll, now the highest in Europe, as “worse than the Blitz.” In the United States, a draft government report projects the country could see an average of 3,000 deaths per day by June 1 — that is, as critics noted, roughly equivalent to the death toll of 9/11, repeated day after day.