Beware of those who promise you the pandemic will soon be over

When the coronavirus spread across Europe in the spring, many scientists warned it could get worse in winter. Now they seem right. The wave of the second lockdown on the continent (see “Europe’s second wave of the coronavirus is starting to overshadow the first”) has triggered gloom, anger, fear and protests in some countries. In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tried to give hope to its citizens by telling them everything will look a lot happier by 2021.

Such sacrifices of hope should be treated with caution. Maybe it will be better when spring enters the …