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Covid 19 coronavirus: Europe said it was pandemic-ready. Pride was its downfall

By David D. Kirkpatrick, Matt Apuzzo and Selam Gebrekidan
New York Times·
19 mins to read
Covid 19 coronavirus: Europe said it was pandemic-ready. Pride was its downfall
A temporary morgue was set up in the car park of a mosque in Birmingham, England, in April to help the city cope with deaths from the coronavirus. Photo / Andrew Testa, The New York Times

The coronavirus exposed European countries' misplaced confidence in faulty models, bureaucratic busywork and their own wealth.

Professor Chris Whitty, Britain's chief medical adviser, stood before an auditorium in a London museum two years ago cataloguing deadly epidemics.

From the Black Death of the 14th century to cholera in war-torn Yemen,

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