Page 16 Daily Mail, Wednesday, March 4, 2020
c oM Me n t
At last, Boris calms
deadly virus concerns
DURING the anxious days of the Second
World War, the British people subscribed to
one morale-boosting aphorism: Keep Calm
and Carry On.
Not even Boris Johnson’s most slavish
disciples could sensibly argue he channelled
Churchill yesterday while putting the
country at battle stations to fight the
coronavirus outbreak.
But the Prime Minister made absolutely
clear he has no doubt the public, imbued
with an indomitable bulldog spirit, will
meet the onerous challenges thrown up by
the virulent disease.
Not before time, he appeared before the
nation to spell out exactly how the
Government intends to keep its citizens
safe from the most serious public health
scare for a generation – 51 infected so far.
Britain, he warned, must hope for the
best but prepare for the worst. And the
worst is very bleak indeed.
In a severe Covid-19 epidemic, says
Downing Street, normal life would be
disrupted almost beyond recognition.
Up to four in five people could fall sick,
with vast numbers dying. Millions would
be absent from work – harming business.
Public services would come under extreme
pressure, with the NHS scrapping countless
operations and care homes in crisis.
Police would respond only to grievous
crimes and riots (although exasperated
critics might say, not uncharitably, that’s
already the case).
To curb the contagion, schools could be
closed. Public gatherings – such as the VE
Day celebrations and the London Marathon
- banned. And even martial law- style
lockdowns introduced in cities.
This could be
the greatest test
we’ve had for
a generation
by Stephen
A Glover
T TIMES of crisis
most people will
offer up thanks
t h a t t h e y a r e
not running the
country, and that some-
one else is prepared to
u n d e r t a k e s u c h a n
unenviable task.
For days many of us have
b e e n c a v i l l i n g a t B o r i s
Johnson. What has he been
doing? Was he really too
occupied with his bride-to-be
Carrie Symonds and discuss-
ing their forthcoming baby to
show an interest in coronavirus
and the floods?
And then, all of a sudden, he
bounces onto our television
screens looking uncustomar-
ily grave, and brandishing a
‘battle plan’ which is full of
draconian-sounding measures
that may have to be taken.
T h e p o l i c e w i l l i g n o r e
low-level crime if the virus
s p r e a d s. T h e r e c o u l d b e
troops on the streets. Firemen
may be otherwise occupied. A
fifth of the workforce could be
put out of action.Danger
The Government’s 28-page
document published yester-
day also includes the notion of
social ‘distancing’. This could
mean working from home.
Emergency powers may be
introduced to close schools or
cancel large public events.
According to officials in a
b a c k g r o u n d b r i e f i n g t o
journalists, ‘distancing’ might
also entail not socialising with
friends in the pub after work,
even after being surrounded
by people during the day. It’s
hard to see how this could
be enforced.
U n t i l t h e d a y b e f o r e
yesterday, Boris Johnson
and ministers seemed either
rather comatose or a little
confused, with not much more
to say than that we should
wash our hands — thoroughly
and often.
Now they have dramatically
put themselves on a war foot-
ing, and are bursting with
advice and instructions which,
in their scope, are probably
unprecedented in peacetime.
Have they gone too far? Arethey ramping up the panic?
Most of us are capable of being
fickle. I certainly am. A few
days ago, a voice in my brain
was complaining that the
Government was doing too
little. Now it is wondering
whether it is doing too much.
Hang on, it says. At the latest
count there have only been 51
cases of coronavirus in the
United Kingdom. So far no
one has died here. Indeed, it
appears to have a relatively
low mortality rate compared
with other recent epidemics.
While the stock market has
b e e n c r a s h i n g a n d t h e
economy wobbling, dozens, if
not hundreds, of people have
been dying from ordinary
influenza without anyone
taking a blind bit of notice.
Aren’t we suffering from a
collective hysteria? Haven’t
we lost our sense of propor-
tion? And isn’t the Govern-
ment feeding the frenzy with
its talk of a ‘ battle plan’
and its panoply of coercive
measures that seem more
appropriate to wartime?
That is what a voice in my
brain is asking. All this is
getting out of hand, it says.
We are in danger of causing
more upset to society, and
more harm to the economy, by
overreacting to the threat of
coronavirus than the conta-
gion itself is ever likely to do.
And then I ask myself: what
else could the Government
do? It obviously must have a
plan. If any of us were unlucky
enough to be running the
country, wouldn’t we produce
something similar in the
knowledge that if we did
nothing we would be, rightly,
pilloried by the Press?
T h e t r u t h i s t h a t t h e
Government is damned if it
does, and damned if it doesn’t.
It can’t easily win. One can
pick holes in some of its
proposals. For example, the
u n e n f o r c e a b l e i n j u n c t i o n
against a drink in the pub
after work seems over the top.
It seems perverse to discour-age us from meeting our chums
if we have brushed against
strangers while standing on
the train, and bumped into all
manner of folk at work.
That said, most of the ideas
unveiled yesterday seem rea-
sonably well thought out, and
of course some, or all of them,
may never have to be adopted.
It is best to be prepared.
For the fact is that we could
— and I stress could — be on
the verge of a challenge for
which, as a country, we are
p s y c h o l o g i c a l l y n o t w e l l
prepared, having enjoyed
decades of peace and plenty
during which a pandemic
seemed unimaginable.
Of course, we must remain
calm. Everyone should pay
heed to what the PM said
yesterday about ‘the vast
majority of the people of this
country... going about our
business as usual’. The Health
Secretary Matt Hancock said
the same on BBC radio.
Continuing to live our normal
lives is, admittedly, a tall
order with the Government
contemplating introducing
emergency powers, and a
media blitz in which every new
case of coronavirus in coun-
tries as far away as South
Ko r e a a n d A u s t r a l i a i s
reported as though it is
happening next door.Hoarding
One thing should surely be
c l e a r. R e m a i n i n g s e r e n e
categorically excludes the
widespread panic-buying and
stockpiling of items such as
lavatory paper and pasta.
Such hoarding seems not
only idiotic but also shaming
in a country once famed for its
stoicism. Those who can recall
the many privations of the last
war will be aghast at such
feeble-minded behaviour.
Reading between the lines, it
seems the Government and
its advisers do expect a serious
epidemic. If they are right, it
will test not just the country’sphysical resources but its
very mettle.
Who will look after the
elderly, the group most at
risk? What will happen to care
homes if many of their staff
are off sick? Do we have the
traditions of neighbourliness
to step into the breach? Can
the young, so unused to
privation, and so accustomed
to relative luxury, adapt to
harsh conditions?
There are questions, too,
about Boris Johnson and the
Government. They are already
fighting a battle to secure
satisfactory trade deals with
the EU and the United States.
Are they capable of coping
at the same time with a
dire national emergency that
could be far more convulsive
than the worst tribulations
of Brexit?Scourge
Mr Johnson was impressive
yesterday — thank God it
wasn’t Jeremy Corbyn stand-
ing there — but questions
remain as to whether he has
the endurance and concentra-
tion of mind to guide us
through a really serious crisis.
The measures he announced
underline the fact that we are
in uncharted territory. Both
the rulers and the ruled will
r e q u i r e a g r e a t d e a l o f
determination and strength of
character to come out the
other side.
Maybe the Government is
wrong. Maybe there will be
comparatively few more cases
before the worldwide scourge
of coronavirus fizzles out as
temperatures rise. Half of me
thinks this will be the case.
What is certain is that if
ministers’ fears turn out to be
ill-founded, we should resist
the temptation to blame
them. No one should say that
they were guilty of scare -
mongering, or trying to throw
their weight around for no
good reason. This is not
Project Fear. It is Project
Prepare For The Worst And
Hope For The Best.
Let’s pray the threat recedes,
and that we can get on with
living our lives. For if the
Government is even half-right,
what lies ahead will be an
unadulterated nightmare.Yes, we must avoid panic. But if fears
are correct, STEPHEN GLOVER says...
Of course, none of this may come to pass.
The illness, spawned in a market selling live
beasts for the cooking pot in China, might
prove less deadly than normal winter flu.
But by treating the public like grown-ups,
and communicating the drastic – but
sensible – restrictions that may need to be
imposed, Boris finally offered the leadership
for which Britain has been crying out.
Impressively authoritative, he reassured
an increasingly jittery country that matters
were firmly in hand – staving off panic.
It begs the question: Why in Heaven’s
name has it taken him so long to confront
head-on arguably the sternest challenge of
his stint in No10?
(Now, this paper respectfully suggests,
perhaps the PM can find space in his diary
to visit the stricken winter flood victims as
well as spending time with his wife-to-be at
his official country mansions.)
His prudent contribution contrasts starkly
to Nicola Sturgeon’s. The preposterous
SNP leader claimed Scotland’s failing NHS,
which she runs, could cope with an extra
250,000 coronavirus patients on the wards.
When people die from inhaling a fungus
from pigeon droppings at its newest
hospital, this simply doesn’t wash.
While the Government appears to have
robust plans to tackle the health emergency,
it must also toil to avoid economic collapse.
S t o c k m a r k e t s a r e p l u n g i n g a n d
businesses have been damaged. Demand is
falling and countless firms risk going bust.
Some experts predict the epidemic will
trigger a 2008-style credit crunch.
So it is relieving (if not surprising) to hear
Bank of England governor Mark Carney
calm nerves by pledging ‘all necessary steps’
to support Britain’s straining economy.
To stimulate demand, he has hinted at an
interest rate cut. That would be welcome.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak could aid recovery
in next week’s Budget by lowering taxes.
Mind you, tackling coronavirus isn’t just
the responsibility of governments and
banks. Everyone can do their bit.
The greatest defence against a menace
that could potentially ruin innumerable lives
is the simplest: Wash your hands more.
If we all pull together, conjuring up a spirit
of national unity, Britain can indisputably
defeat this viral enemy.