The Spectator

How much are people eating during lockdown?

(iStock) 
issue 04 April 2020

People power

Boris Johnson said that the reaction to the coronavirus crisis showed ‘There really is such a thing as society’ — an apparent reference to an interview Mrs Thatcher gave to Woman’s Own in 1987. A reminder of what she actually said: ‘I think we have gone through a period when too many people have been given to understand “I have a problem, it is the government’s job to cope with it!”… and so they are casting their problems on society, and who is society? There is no such thing! There are individual men and women and there are families and no government can do anything except through people, and people look to themselves first.’

Open and shut

Sweden is the one country in Europe which has so far resisted pressure for a ‘lockdown’ to tackle coronavirus. How does its death toll compare (including deaths reported to the World Health Organization up until Sunday)?

Deaths per 100,000:

Sweden | 1

Neighbouring countries:

Norway | 0.4

Finland | 0.2

Denmark | 1.1

Countries in lockdown for two weeks:

Italy | 16.5

Spain | 12.3

France | 3.5

In lockdown for one week:

UK | 1.6

Asian countries without lockdown, but with some other measures in place:

Singapore | 0.4

South Korea | 0.3

Japan | 0.04

Home truths

Will being banned from eating out improve our diet? Percentage energy intake (on average) of eating:

At home / Out

Carbohydrate | 48 / 41

Protein | 14 / 16

Fat | 38 / 43

Saturated fat | 14 / 13

Sugar | 14 / 11

Source: Defra

Take flight

There are still flights being advertised from London next week (if you can convince police that your journey to the airport is essential), including:

New York (return) | £628

Sydney (return with two stops) | £765

Beijing (return) | £1,260

Rio de Janeiro (return) | £998

Source: Skyscanner.com

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