Suddenly everyone has a plan. Ideas for exiting the COVID-19 lockdown are spreading faster than the virus ever did. Spain has let builders return to work, Italy has opened stationers and bookshops, Denmark is allowing children back into nurseries and primary schools. South Africa’s opposition is calling for a relaxed “smart lockdown”. In America President Donald Trump has been sparring with state governors over who should decide what reopens when. The Economist writes that every country is different, but already two things are clear. First, governments need to explain to their people that the world is not about to return to normal. Without a vaccine or a therapy, life will be constrained and economies will remain depressed. Second, testing and contact-tracing are vital to keeping the virus at bay. Countries that failed to invest enough in them when the disease first emerged in China risk repeating the mistake.