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Under the Northern Ireland protocol, Northern Ireland will continue to follow the EU's customs rules on product standards even after Brexit. The purpose of this is to keep the UK-ROI border free from any border post infrastructure, so as to not create political instability. As a result of the protocol, tariffs may be charged on goods being shipped from the rest of the UK into Northern Ireland, but as long as the goods stay in Northern Ireland, the tariff would be refunded.

It is interesting that all of these different protocols are necessary to maintain political stability. I am still a bit confused as to how this tariff will keep political stability, but I think that is a function of my lack of knowledge regarding Brexit and what happened with Northern Ireland. As such, I would be interested in learning about this on a deeper level so I can have the context necessary to understand this article.

Instead of requiring strict social distancing measures and lockdowns like the United States, France and many other European countries have encouraged citizens to go back to their normal lives. The countries are confident that with widespread testing, medical infrastructure, and mask availability, they will be able to control a surge in cases and limit hospitalizations. This move is still controversial, as many think that letting the virus "run its course" would disproportionately impact immunocompromised and the elderly. Yet, the majority of recent cases have been in young people, likely due to their increased socialization. I think this is interesting and possibly a more practical COVID response than lockdowns, which people rarely follow. I wonder if an approach like this could work in the United States, but the pandemic response remains highly political here.

I feel like this strategy used in Europe is much more likely to succeed than if it was used in the US, as I agree with you that in Europe the coronavirus response is less of a political issue and more of a health crisis. Therefore, in Europe, people more vulnerable to the virus are more likely to stay home and carry out social distancing protocol for their own and others' safety than the US, where coronavirus safety guidelines are sometimes seen as an encroachment on people's individual freedoms. In the US it is much more unclear as to whether this kind of approach would really work, not only because of the pandemic response being politicized but also because of many refusing to wear a mask and US covid-19 testing issues.