We’re all in this together and can beat coronavirus
WE ARE at a grave moment in the life of the nation. Yesterday another 10 British people died from coronavirus, bringing the total to 21. Case are rising very rapidly now. Hundreds have become thousands and it seems inevitable that, before many more weeks have passed, we will be counting the number of confirmed UK infections in tens of thousands.
As the Prime Minister told us all last week, many families are going to lose loved ones before their time. Even with an expected death rate among those acquiring the infection of just one per cent, it is a straightforward calculation to work out what mass transmission of this virus through a large chunk of a population of more than 65 million is going to mean.
We are not accustomed, these days, to the notion of a new infectious disease killing thousands of people in our advanced, prosperous country and modern medicine being unable to prevent it.
The temptation, therefore, is to berate those in authority for somehow letting us down simply because we have come to assume that a medical magic bullet will be readily available for deployment against every bug. But there is no medicinal cure for this virus and, as yet, no proven vaccine against it either.
These unpalatable facts are surely behind an outbreak of hysteria on social media and elsewhere among several well-known figures who appear to think they could handle things better than the Government and its team of expert advisers. They couldn’t. And they should be ignored.
The wise response is to follow the guidance of chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance. The good news is that something as basic as soap kills this virus on the human skin, so thoroughly washing hands several times a day with soap and hot water is essential. Anyone suffering from any of the symptoms of Covid-19, chief among them a dry cough and/or a fever, should be self-isolating as instructed.
SLOWING down the spread of this virus will save, potentially, thousands of lives – as the NHS will be able to treat a higher proportion of cases effectively if they come to it gradually, rather than in one short and devastating rush. Testing as this pandemic promises to be, Britain has seen off worse in the past and is well-placed to be one of the countries that handles it best. The fact we have the publicly owned National Health Service at our disposal is likely to be a key strength.
Sometimes its monolithic nature is criticised but being able to co-ordinate our response to a singular challenge via a single healthcare provider will be more straightforward than attempting to harness fragmented and largely privately owned healthcare systems, as other countries face having to do.
So far, Prof Whitty and Sir Patrick have been voices of calm reassurance to worried families, setting out honestly what can and cannot be achieved to protect them and able to explain cogently every decision that has been taken.
Boris Johnson is surely right to follow their expert advice rather than implement measures just because they are being imposed in other parts of the world. Every country is grappling with its own unique circumstances as well as with this common threat and what is right for one place may not work in another.
We should certainly not assume that what other countries are doing must be right and what Britain is doing must be wrong. Yet while the government and its advisers deserve to have the presumption of public support for their anti-coronavirus strategy, they cannot expect a blank cheque from the public or this newspaper.
The Sunday Express, through this crisis, will carry out the legitimate and indeed essential role of scrutinising decisions taken on behalf of our readers by those in power.
Where there are shortcomings – as there are bound to be during such a complex and high-pressure challenge – we will be highlighting them and wanting action. Where there are question marks hanging over the government’s logic, we will be inviting ministers to better explain themselves.
And we urge the Government to keep an open mind about necessary measures, as it has done in regard to a ban on large gatherings.
When the facts on the ground change, the Government must be flexible enough to alter its approach to fit these new conditions.
In the meantime, this is also a moment for our British sense of neighbourliness and loyalty to our communities to come to the fore. Often this will involve a phone call to neighbours in isolation, to see if they need groceries or other provisions delivered to the door. Sometimes it may involve explaining official advice to those less able to comprehend what best to do. That thing David Cameron struggled to define while he was in office but referred to as the “Big Society” may be about to self-define by asserting itself in a crisis.
From our vantage point in a developed country, we often get to see whether others prove their mettle in a full-on crisis. Sometimes in recent years that has meant our own magnificent armed forces showing what they can do when placed in the way of danger. Now it is the turn of us all to show that we, too, are made of the right stuff and can help to implement a lifesaving national action plan.
Many among the over-80s – the very people most at risk from this virus – will find themselves thinking of the spirit of the Blitz that saw Britain through the early years of the Secondworldwar.
At the very start of this year many of us were looking forward to a new “Roaring Twenties” as our national self-confidence surged. Since then we have suffered some of the worst floods for many years and now a threat of a whole different order has come to our door.
IT IS AN intrinsic part of British culture to be cynical about the motives of politicians – and often they deserve to be doubted. But it should also be recognised that to willingly step into high ministerial office is to take on a level of responsibility from which many of us would recoil.
That is, in particular, true of the office of prime minister and the strain is already showing on the normally cheerful features of Boris Johnson. Through the opening phase of this episode he has got the balance right between taking a lead himself and allowing his expert advisers to shape and explain government policy.
We all need to keep together and follow their advice. It is understandable that with the possibility of self-isolation looming people will want to stock up to a reasonable extent.
But “reasonable” is the key word.
As our supermarket chains explain today, they can feed the nation and ensure essential household goods remain available. But they can only do it if consumers are considerate too.
Overall, the nation is worried but calm. It accepts that normal life is going to be severely constrained for months ahead but is determined to get through it.
People want to know what they can do to help and the Government must continue to tell them in clear and understandable terms.
The tidal wave of coronavirus is about to break upon us but we could not be much better prepared than we are.
We will all know much more about ourselves by the time we emerge from the testing period to come.