When former Communist Party Secretary-General Miloš Jakeš died on July 10, he was facing charges for abuse of position for not doing anything to prevent the use of weapons against those trying to cross the border illegally. Because of inaction by Jakeš and two other top officials, Lubomír Štrougal and Vratislav Vajnar, nine people reportedly died on the border, and at least seven more were injured. Today's political leaders should keep this in mind. Just as Jakeš and his party colleagues were allowing people to die in the name of defending an ideology, today's epidemiologists are making ideological decisions about covid-19 that can directly affect the ability of hospitals to treat non-covid patients. The opposition is complaining that tomorrow's lockdown isn't based on hard data. Hospitals, though, will be able to document with precision how many other lives are lost due to the new restrictions. History shows that when ideologies change, someone pays the piper.