Editorial Ta Nea: Time

Scientific research does not function like politics.

It is not afraid to acknowledge its shortcomings and often proceeds blindly.

It needs time.

When the Nobel Prize was awarded to the scientists who discovered HIV the committee congratulated them because it took them only two years to discover the virus that was killing gay people in America.

It took only two weeks for researchers to ascertain that a deadly epidemic of pneumonia was caused by SARS-CoV-2.

Yet that was only the beginning of this long adventure.

Six months later, we have yet to discover a medicine or vaccine and four questions about the coronavirus remain unanswered – how exactly it is dispersed through the air, how easy it is for people who are infected but without symptoms to transmit it, what kind of immunity it may create, and what scars it leaves behind.

These questions should not lead to distrust toward scientific or political authorities.

On the contrary, it reminds us and highlights the dangers of complacency toward a still largely unknown enemy.

The issue is further complicated by the need for the economy once again to operate normally.

Fragile societies such as Greece’s which remained standing after the first coronavirus wave must now shield themselves against an onslaught of recession and unemployment.

The virus will remain among us for a long time.

To continue to confront it successfully one needs a combination of state care and individual responsibility.

If we lower the flag or display arrogance or indifference we shall squander all that we have accomplished with great effort and sacrifices.