Best articles: Britain NEWS^174April 2020 THE WEEKHolding out for
heroes fresh
from the fight
SimonKuper
FinancialTimes
Youheariteveryeveningacrosstheworld–fromItalianbalconies
tothefavelasofBrazil:clappingforthenation’smedicalworkers.
It’saglobalritual,saysSimonKuper.Andthoughtheapplause
frommyParisbalconysoundstinny–muchofParishavinggone
toself-isolateincountryhomes–itstillmarksaseachangeinour
civilisation:“thecultofthehealthworkerisreplacingthecultof
thesoldier”.Beforethe 2 1stcentury,nationsnamedstreetsafter
warheroesandspentfortunesontheirarmies.InthetwoWorld
Wars,BritaindevotedalmosthalfitsGDPtoitsforces.Butslowly,
oursoldier-venerationisfading.Inthelate1980s,healthspending
intheUKovertookdefencespendingforthefirsttime.Andonce
thispandemic–whichhas“turbochargedthecultofthemedic”
–isover,expecthealthspendingtokeeponrising;expectfactories
thatoncemadebombstomakeventilators;expectmedicalsalaries
toshootup.Anyonerashenoughtoobjectwillbeslappeddown
withasimpleretort:“Rememberthecoronavirus.”Lionising
medicsmaybecomeacult,but“ascultsgo,it’snotabadone”.How the virus
threatens our
democracy
JeremyCliffe
NewStatesman
Now what? That’s thebig question, saysJeremy Cliffe. Strictlock-
downshave contained the spread of thevirusinChina andother
east Asiannations; in Italy andAustria, too, contagionratesseem
to be slowing.Buttomaintain such restrictions untilavaccineis
foundwould take aterribletoll onpeople’smentalhealth.
Relaxing them could takeusback tosquareone:when Hong
Kong did justthat, infectionsdoubled,and it hadtoreinstateits
work-at-home laws. Theonly otheroption isbio-surveillance –
giving the state thepowertomonitor ourmobilephones,credit
cards andonline accounts in ordertokeeptrackof us after we
leavelockdown.In Taiwan, thestate uses such data to question
anyonebreakingquarantine, andtoinformandalert people
about the movementsof infected citizens intheirvicinity. It’s a
smackinthe faceforcivilliberties, yet even Westerndemocracies
are heading thatway. On 24 March, ourGovernment sent to
the Lordsanemergencybill to make iteasier to get surveillance
warrants. That is what theprice ofbeating thevirus is likelyto
be:acomplete transformation of the role andreachof thestate.We were
warned; we
didn’t listen
David Aaronovitch
The Times
Ever since thefirstcases of Covid-19were detectedinChina, the
worldhasbeenplayingadesperate game of catch-up, imposing
drastic lockdowns in an effort to halt the spread of the disease. It
didn’t haveto bethis way, says David Aaronovitch. Publichealth
experts have long warnedus thatit wasamatteroftime before a
highly contagious and harmful flu virus would evolve,andthat the
resultingpandemic couldkillmillions andderail theeconomy. Yet
no one thought it worth stumping up the money to insure against
the risk.Areport written four years ago byaglobalhealth risks
commission said the US should devote $4.5bnayeartoequip itself
to detect anddealwith suchathreat. Last September,theGlobal
Preparedness Monitoring Board also warned ofaflupandemic,
its co-chairs accusingworldleadersof succumbingto“acycle of
panic andneglect”. Andamonth beforeCovid-19appeared, the
Centrefor Strategic andInternational Studieswas calling for a
“heightened focus on thedevelopment ofauniversal fluvaccine”
andthefacilitiesneededtodeliverit. We knew this wascoming:
truth is,we’vebeen “hideously complacent about itforyears”.Hollywood
stars begging
for attention
Jemima Lewis
The Daily Telegraph
Awebsitethatsupplies
medicalfetishwearhas
donateditsentirestock
totheNHStohelpalleviate
equipmentshortages.
MedFetUKsaiditsupplieda
numberofsetsofdisposable
scrubsafterbeingcontacted
by“desperate”NHS
procurementstaff.The
company–whichcatersto“a
smallsectionofthekink
community”–describedthe
equipmentshortagesas
“scandalous”.AUSmanwhowasarrested
afterleadingpoliceonahigh-
speedcarchaseexplained
thathewas“tryingtoteach
hisdoghowtodrive”.The
manhittwocarsbefore
reaching109mphduringthe
ensuingpursuit.Hispitbull
wasfoundinthedrivingseat
whenhewasarrested,said
WashingtonStateTrooper
HeatherAxtman.UnderSpain’sstrict
lockdownrules,you’re
allowedtowalkadog–but
notachicken.ALanzarote
man drew ire onlineafter he
was filmed takingachicken
forastrollon alead.The
policefailed tosee thefunny
side,andthe 5 1-year-old
facesafineofuptos30,
forbreachingregulations.AnAustralian astrophysicist
endedup in hospital after his
attemptsto stop the spread
ofCovid-19 backfired. Dr
DanielReardon, of Melbourne
University,got four powerful
neodymiummagnets stuck
uphis nose while trying to
createanecklace which
wouldsound an alarm if its
ownertouched their face. He
had got “bored” during the
process and placed two
magnets inside his nostrils,
and two on the outside, he
told The Guardian. When he
removed the magnets from
outside his nose, the two
inside stuck fast.ITMUSTBETRUE...
IreaditinthetabloidsDo you know what brings fame in the coronavirus era? It’s coming
up withamemethat makespeoplelaugh, saysJemimaLewis. It’s
normalpeopleinmessy kitchens in normal homes givingableakly
funny accountof ourcommonpredicament. The message behind
the clipsthathave gone viral–the stressed home-schoolingmum
teachingmathsbyfillingupherwineglassinfractions; thetoddler
howling when toldshe’ll havetoeat “Mummy’scooking”now
fast-foodjoints areshut–isthatwe’re allinthe same boat.What
acontrastbetweenthese “self-deprecating” memes andthe
tone-deaf, needyresponseofHollywood celebrities.The “not
male or female”singer SamSmithposted footageofthemself
“weeping with ennui” intheir£12mmansion(“Ihatereading!”).
Agroup ofactors, ledbyWonder Womanstar Gal Gadot, sang a
mournfulrenditionofJohnLennon’sImaginefrom their
mansions. The attention-starved celebritiesjustdon’trealisethat
“theworld doesn’t wantthem” rightnow.They need tostepout
of thedigitallimelight and“letthe frazzledmumshavetheirday”.