Curfews, lockdowns and calls to patriotism are being used to help slow the spread of COVID-19. India has asked 1.3 billion people to stay at home for three weeks, Spain may well take over Italy as the new ground zero of the crisis and China has closed its gates to the rest of the world in a bid to insulate itself from a global pandemic that was once a domestic problem.

Government approaches vary dramatically. Britain has changed course, adopting a whatever-it-takes mentality to shield the health system from a tsunami; Sweden is taking a more lax approach; Indonesia is resisting calls for a lockdown; and Donald Trump has hinted the US shutdown may be shortlived. Leaders are making life-and-death decisions. Not all of them will pass the test.