May Boris and Britain get through this battle

One detects an ill-suppressed excitement in some quarters at the at the deterioration of Boris Johnson’s health. At yesterday’s press conference, the pack of lobby journalists fastened greedily on the subject.

In the morning, Lord Kerslake – falsely introduced as a former Cabinet Secretary – was wheeled on by BBC Radio 4 as a constitutional expert on what might happen if the Prime Minister had to “step back”. He did not correct his interviewer on her accidental exaggeration of his CV.

Although he is a former civil servant, Lord Kerslake is not impartial. Last year, he declared that a Boris premiership would be “an opportunity for disaster”. He was an adviser to Jeremy Corbyn on how to prepare for government. If Boris was ill for much longer, Lord Kerslake told the BBC, the Prime Minister would “have to reflect” on his position.

Obviously, it is worrying when a prime minister is ill in a crisis. Boris Johnson is neither old nor weak, but, as I know from several infected friends, this virus can hit some healthy people surprisingly hard. It is just silly (or mischievous) to suggest, however, that government cannot be properly carried on if the leader has a period of illness.

In December 1941, the prime minister, Winston Churchill, had a mild heart attack when staying at the White House just after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In February 1943, after the long air journey returning to London from the Casablanca Conference, he went down with pneumonia – always a serious illness. He was unwell from early February till the beginning of March.

In August 1944, Churchill got pneumonia again after a flight from Naples to Rabat in Morocco. His condition worsened on the ensuing flight to RAF Northolt the next day. He got off the plane with a temperature of 103F. The trouble persisted for more than a fortnight. He was, of course, an immensely tiresome patient and never stopped working entirely; but he mostly stayed in bed, his flow of paper greatly reduced and the government did not lose focus. We won the war in Europe in May the following year.

In August 1944, Churchill was nearly 70: Boris Johnson is 55. Medicine is three quarters of a century better. Boris does not smoke cigars or drink whisky at breakfast. I think both Britain and Boris have a stronger constitution than Lord Kerslake allows.

It has rightly and often been pointed out that there is a deep gulf at present between those in the country or suburbs with large gardens and those in small urban flats. The coronavirus is also widening another gulf – that between the public and private sector.

Very few public-sector workers have suffered financial loss or job insecurity from the crisis. Millions of private-sector ones already have. Yet if we are to achieve the economic recovery required to pay for our health and other public services, it is the private sector that will do most of the work. This will be the modern version of the “two nations” which often trouble us.

One can already see that the lockdown will end by degrees, not all at once. These will need much calibration and cautious experiment.

An example comes to mind. At present, the roads are full of potholes because of the atrociously wet winter. They are unprecedentedly empty of traffic. So this is a good moment to be getting to work on them.

Would it really be impossible to devise ways in which workers could start on the more modest of these repairs, at least in rural districts? It could be tried out in only a couple of areas to start with. I bet there would be a rush of well-trained volunteers.

Here are some tips from a friend who, with her entire family, is only just recovering from the virus. They sound useful.

Check temperature and pulse regularly if you feel ill.

Monitor how much water you drink. If you get weak with fever, you may lose your appetite. Don’t forget the water.

It really is all right to call an ambulance or, in the first instance, a doctor. If you’re truly ill, no amount of stoicism will make you better.

The danger signals are not necessarily cough or breathing difficulties. My friend’s husband, who got it badly, did not have these symptoms. He was very weak and not making much sense and breathing slightly faster than usual.

Sit up in bed – less likely to get a lung infection than if you lie down.

The virus may weaken your immune system, so you are more likely to get secondary, bacterial infections. This happened to my friend, whose secondary infection was quickly banished by antibiotics (a course she normally abhors).

“The virus can make you withdrawn, emotional and selfish,” even a week after the symptoms have gone. Rows broke out between her normally sweet-natured children. You may find yourself sobbing a lot as you get better.

Do NOT rush back into vigorous physical exercise as soon as you can. It could set back your recovery.

In Israel, doctors in masks and visors are sticking pictures of their faces on the front of their overalls so that patients can work out who they are. This must be good psychology. It is alarming to be treated for a serious illness like Covid-19 by unidentifiable, and therefore interchangeable, people. It should happen here.