the times | Wednesday April 8 2020 2GM 7
News
Leave masks
to health staff
Medical masks should be kept for
health workers, the World Health
Organisation (WHO) has said,
with their use by the public risking
spreading coronavirus by creating
a false sense of security. It added
in advice published yesterday that
there was no evidence that the
wearing of any kind of mask by
healthy people could prevent
infection. “It is critical that
medical masks and respirators be
prioritised for healthcare workers,”
it said.
It has previously warned of
worldwide shortages of masks and
other protective equipment.
Officials said the use of the masks
could lead to neglect of measures
“such as hand hygiene practices
and physical distancing”. There
was also a risk that people may
touch their face more.
Simon Clarke, associate
professor in cellular microbiology
at the University of Reading, said:
“Your front door will contain the
virus much more effectively than
any facemask.”
Non-medical masks had not
been well evaluated and so there
was no evidence about their use in
the community, WHO added.Bins must be emptied
Councils have been ordered to
carry on emptying householders’
bins to prevent health problems
caused by mounds of rubbish. The
government instruction came as
collectors on the Wirral refused to
work, claiming their employer was
putting their safety at risk by
making them travel together in
lorries. Many councils have
cancelled collections owing to
sickness or staff being in isolation.Mayor: PM deserves it
The mayor of Heanor in
Derbyshire has been expelled from
the Labour Party after she said
Boris Johnson deserved to have
the coronavirus. Sheila Oakes, 56,
will be able to stay in office as
an independent until the next
election. She wrote in a Facebook
post: “Sorry, he completely
deserves this and he’s one of the
worst PMs we’ve ever had.” She
has apologised for the remark.Helpline for NHS staff
The NHS has opened a free
mental health hotline to offer
support to workers on the front
line in the fight against the
coronavirus. Those needing help
to cope with the pressures will be
able to speak to one of more than
1,500 trained volunteers. NHS
staff can call 0300 131 7000
between 7am and 11pm each day
or, for 24/7 support, they can
text FRONTLINE to 85258.Death of ‘isolated’ boy
The mother of a 15-year-old boy
has said that he took his own
life during the lockdown because
he felt isolated. Kian Southway, a
keen kickboxer from Treorchy,
south Wales, was found dead
on March 31. His mother,
Joelene, 40, said: “I think he
literally felt isolated from the
world due to this Covid-19.”
The Samaritans’ free helpline
can be reached on 116 123.coronavirus in brief
‘T
he problem with these
people,” Boris Johnson
said with some feeling, “is
that they’ve never played
rugby.” I can’t remember
who he was referring to but some
delivery arm of London government
was, in his view, dragging its feet, not
confronting a challenge with the
urgency, creativity or determination
the mayor felt was needed.
Some minor setback had put a
spanner in the works and the
response, he felt, was a further
downing of tools. Rugby, which we
played together at university, had
taught him that even when you are
hit hard, you should take a deep
breath, get back on your feet and get
on with the game. As a tight-head
prop, that, for Boris, always involved
getting really stuck in.
His reaction, just over a week ago,
to being told he’d caught the
coronavirus was similarly bullish. He
scaled back. His diary was emptied of
most things which could be delegated
and he talked to senior medics every
day about his symptoms. When they
advised him to go to hospital, he
listened and when they suggested
intensive care, there was little protest.
Deep down, Boris Johnson would
always be the last person to leave the
field. “I fear no man,” he once said in
jest, but convincingly. Cycling home
one night in London he gave chase to
a gang of teenagers mugging a young
woman. Minutes before stepping out
into the Olympic stadium in Beijing
before a worldwide audience of more
than three billion he was slurping
noodle soup with no anxiety about
soiling his shirt. When he noticed
the 100 metre track where
Usain Bolt had just set a
new world record, he
practically forced
me to race him to
the finish,
immune to
the horror
and surprise
of our Chinese
hosts.
The fact that a
man of such robust
physical health and
supreme mental resilience
is on his back in hospital
and not at the helm in No
10 shows how alarming this
situation has become. Perhaps
he should have surrendered
earlier, focused on eating better,
getting some serious sleep.
However, when there are huge calls
to make, weighing up lives and
livelihoods, the damage of doing too
much or too little, it’s hardly
surprising that someone like him
skips a meal, grabs another coffee or
coke, stays up late and wakes up earlyended in dash to hospital
News
The Boris I know
can take a big hit
and bounce back
worrying if he’s got the balance right.
From the toppling of Theresa May to
winning the leadership, cancelling
any summer holiday to “get Brexit
done” and marching on into a general
election, leaving the EU and forming
a new government, there’s been little
down time in the past year.
Add to that the concerns of any
engaged couple expecting their first
child and you have a potent cocktail
of concern. When he led the applause
for NHS staff on Thursday he looked
dreadful, but preventing him from
stepping outside the Downing Street
door would have been virtually
impossible. Boris would have thought
it self-indulgent to wallow in his own
illness when thousands on the front
line are risking their health and
working their socks off.
The prime minister has read
enough and been around enough to
know that history will judge him
mercilessly on the calls he makes in
this crisis. No one, whatever they say
now that he’s in St Thomas’, would
forgive him a flawed decision because
he wasn’t well at the time.
Had he recovered as swiftly as the
Prince of Wales, a few days in bed
would have been swiftly forgotten but
not the consequences of any
delegated decisions during that time,
no doubt disowned down the line by
whoever had taken them.
A man who is known by his first
name also knows there is an
expectation on him to lead by
example. Catching Covid-19, though
clearly horrendous personally, was
also a perfect opportunity to project
his positive thinking and stubborn
determination on the whole of
Britain. Had he shaken it off swiftly,
we would have all felt a little better
about our own prospects. As he
struggles now, everyone,
inevitably, is more anxious
about the impact of this crisis
and its duration.
Boris Johnson will have
to dig deep over the next
few days and I’ve little
doubt he will turn,
inevitably, towards his
great political hero,
Pericles. “The
bravest,” declared
the great Athenian,
“have the clearest
vision of what is
before them, glory
and danger alike, and yet
go out to meet it.” Pericles
achieved great things before
dying from a plague that
swept Greece about 400BC.
His devout student might be
troubled by how that story
ends but it will only make
him more determined
to recover and lead
Britain through this
modern-day
parallel.
Guto Harri was
communications
director to Boris
Johnson as mayor of
London in 2008-Queen offers Symonds
a message of support
The Queen and the cabinet sent mes-
sages of support to Boris Johnson and
his heavily pregnant fiancée Carrie
Symonds yesterday.
A note was dispatched from the
monarch to say the couple were “in her
thoughts” and that she wished the
prime minister “a full and speedy
recovery”, Buckingham Palace said.
Mr Johnson, 55, remained in
intensive care after first arriving at St
Thomas’ hospital on Sunday night. He
took a turn for the worse on Monday
and received non-invasive oxygen
treatments. The Queen is being kept
informed of his condition.
Ms Symonds, 32, who is expecting
the couple’s baby in weeks and is self-
isolating with their dog, Dilyn, has had
Covid-19 symptoms but said at the
weekend that she was “on the mend”.
“I’ve spent the past week in bed with
the main symptoms. I haven’t needed
to be tested and, after seven days of
rest, I feel stronger,” she tweeted.
While there is no evidence that
pregnant women are at increased risk
if they catch coronavirus, the govern-
ment has said they should be “particu-larly stringent” in minimising social
contact.
Ms Symonds was the first non-mar-
ried partner of a sitting prime minister
to be formally introduced to the Queen
at Balmoral. It is traditional for prime
ministers and their spouses to travel to
the Highlands around the first week of
September. The decision to extend an
invitation followed lengthy discussions
between the Palace and Downing
Street about softening the protocol that
unmarried couples do not stay over-
night at Queen’s six official residences.
Mr Johnson and his fiancée are the
first unmarried couple to live in
Downing Street. In February, when his
divorce from his second wife, Marina
Wheeler, was finalised, Ms Symonds
disclosed that the couple were engaged.
Linking to advice from the Royal
College of Obstetricians and Gynae-
cologists, she tweeted: “Being pregnant
with Covid-19 is obviously worrying.
To other pregnant women, please do
read and follow the most up to date gui-
dance which I found to be v reassuring.”
She is said to be deeply anxious
about Mr Johnson’s condition, but
cannot visit, which is banned on
Covid-19 wards.Lucy Fisher
Guto Harri
Comment
As a tight-head prop at university,
Boris Johnson always got stuck inCarrie Symonds
is self-isolating
with the pair’s
dog, Dilyn. Her
baby is due
within weeksENTERPRISE