Boris has shown that we’re all in this together

The news that the Prime Minister has contracted the coronavirus is a powerful reminder that the disease does not discriminate. Within hours, Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, announced that he, too, had tested positive, along with Prof Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer. From the PM to Prince Charles, it feels as if pillars of public life are dropping like flies. Scottish Secretary Alister Jack was last night self-isolating and, given the virus’s contagiousness, further cases within the PM’s top team seem likely in the coming days. Mr Johnson will continue to serve from a safe distance, for the moment, by working remotely from within No 10.

Concerning as these developments are, there is also something strangely comforting about the fact that the PM is showing mild symptoms, selfisolating and soldiering on, looking only slightly weary and red-eyed. His webcam outperforms the grainy monstrosities some of my colleagues are using, and, from the privacy of No 10, there is little chance of interruption from relatives or even a few barks from Dilyn the dog, who is selfisolating with the PM’s fiancée, Carrie Symonds, at her Camberwell home. Yet Mr Johnson’s experience reflects what most sufferers will go through.

This must be a particularly troubling time for Carrie, as it is for pregnant women everywhere. Of course, most of us don’t have the refuge of a second home, but the fundamental privations are the same; anxiety about the future, the pain of separation from loved ones.

The PM’s diagnosis even mirrors the Government’s approach towards the virus; planning for the reality that, while taking every precaution and following official advice, many of us will not escape it. The rapid expansion of the critical care capacity to support serious cases is designed to avoid the fatal bottlenecks seen in Italy and Spain. UK mortality rate models already seem less daunting than a week ago. Rapid testing will be crucial, enabling the recovered to resume normal life, thus avoiding a lengthy shutdown of the economy and hastening the phased lifting of social restrictions. The working assumption seems to be that many – possibly most – of us will contract the virus, and rally.

As he convalesces, the PM should take inspiration from his political hero Winston Churchill, who also steered the country through dark days, from his bed or bathtub (though Mr Johnson should perhaps avoid too many 11am whisky sessions).

Churchill himself survived two bouts of pneumonia during the Second World War, and many of his finest ideas came while reclining in bed, or soaking in one of his trademark long baths while a typist gathered his thoughts. This endearing habit prompted my favourite piece of Churchillian wisdom; “Never stand up when you can sit down, and never sit down when you can lie down.”

Times are tough. But in two weeks’ time – just as the virus is expected to peak – most of the Government’s top Covid-19 response team will be immune.

The PM can look the East End in the eye, and say, with conviction, that we are all in this together. Get well soon, Boris.