NEWS 5
29 February 2020 THE WEEK
...and how they were covered
Whatnext?
Thisepidemic“wasnevergoingtobecontained”,saidMichaelT.OsterholmandMark
OlshakerinTheNewYorkTimes.ScientistsbelievethatCovid-19–unlikeSars,Mersand
Ebola–maybetransmittedbeforetheonsetofsymptoms,andthateachcarrierspreadsthe
virustoanaverageof2.6people.The“chilling”realityisthatwhathappenedinWuhan,
wheretheoutbreakbegan,“willlikelyplayoutelsewhere”.Hospitals’abilitytotreatpatients
couldbe“severelycompromised”and,ifmorehealthworkersdie,panicmaysetin.Authorities
arenow“frantically”preparingforapandemic,saidTheEconomist–shortagesofequipment
likemasksandgloveshavealreadyledto20-foldpricerises.Richcountriesarewell-equipped,
butthevirus’smortalityrateinpoorerregionssuchasAfricaislikelytobesignificantlyhigher.
It’shardnottobealarmed,saidTheDailyTelegraph:thevirusinfectspeoplewithnoobvious
connectiontotheoutbreak’ssource,andthemarketsaregrippedbyfearsofaglobalrecession.
Itnowseems“inevitable”thatapandemicwillbedeclared,saidTheGuardian.Sofar,the
WHOhasresistedthelabel,insistingitsspreadcanbecontained,andsuggestingthenumberof
newcasesinChinahaspeaked.Whatevertheterminology,theseverityofthedisease’simpact
willdependonourresponse;withvigilanceandclearadvice,itsspreadmayyetbeslowed.
Britainshouldbraceitself,saidMichaelBarrettintheNewStatesman.Amodeldevelopedby
ImperialCollegescientistssuggeststhattheUKcouldbehitby80,000coronavirus-related
deathsinthenext 12 months–farmorethanthenumberkilledbyseasonalflu.Italy’sexample
isespecially“alarming”;itshealthcaresystemissimilartoours,yetitfailedtodetectmultiple
casesbeforethefirstdiagnoses.Governmentplanswillonlygosofar,saidConnorBamfordin
TheIndependent–goodhygieneisvital.Washingyourhands,coveringsneezesandbinning
usedtissueswillhelp,butfacemasksprobablywon’t.Evenwithprecautions,stoppingthe
virus’sspreadnowseems“exceedingly challenging”: Covid-19 looks likeit’shere tostay.
What the commentators said
Peopledisplayingflu-like
symptomsat 100 GP
surgeriesandeighthospitals
acrosstheUKwillnowbe
testedforcoronavirus.The
testsareaimedatproviding
“earlywarning”ofthe
disease’sspread,said
ProfessorPaulCosford
ofPublicHealthEngland.ThosereturningtotheUK
fromthe 1 1Italiantowns
underquarantinearebeing
askedtoself-isolateandcall
NHS111.Thosereturning
totheUKfromanywherein
ItalynorthofPisaarebeing
toldtoself-isolateonlyifthey
experiencesymptoms.The
WHOsaidonWednesday
thatcasesofcoronavirusare
nowbeingdetectedatafaster
rateoutsideChinathan
within the country.Whatnext?
An odd reversal has taken place over theissue of immigrationreform, said Fraser Nelson in
The Daily Telegraph. The Left are now the ones defendingcorporate interests and globalism,
while the Rightare promotingworkers’ rights.The Tories see Patel’s newrules asameans not
just to take back controlofour borders, but to improvesocial cohesion.The rules are also a
call forbettertrainingand moreautomation. We’re always warned that machines are coming
for ourjobs,butinrecent years we’vehad theopposite problem:a“low-waged, low-
productivity economy where too muchisdone by hand.InSweden, the robot-to-human ratio is
twice what it is here. In Germany, it’s three times. InSouthKorea, eight times.”Thishas freed
people to do more skilledandrewarding work. Under Patel’s plan, theUKwill remainan
“open, tolerant country”,said LeoMcKinstryinthe Daily Express.Indeed, the new model will
be fairer than the current one, which has “an open bias in favourofEUcitizens atthe expense
of other migrants”. In future,allapplicantswillbetreated equally, regardless of their origin.
The current regime does at least allow unskilledworkersachance to come in, said Nesrine
Malik in The Guardian. But as ofJanuary, Britain willbeclosed tothem. These people helped
build thiscountry,coming fromall cornersof theEmpireinthe postwar era to work in social
care andhospitals and to drive buses. But it seems we don’t wantsuch “badmigrants” any-
more, only“good” oneswith theright skills.Patel’s parents weren’t “skilled”when they moved
here from eastAfrica, butit didn’tstop them creatinganewsagent chain across London and the
southeast. The beliefthat low-skilled or unskilled migrants areadrain on the economy is
fundamentally “wrongheaded”,said Kristian Niemietz on CapX. These people createjobs
as wellasenriching theculture. Post-Brexit Britain will be poorerwithout them. It won’tbe a
place with “Staff urgentlyneeded” signs in the window of every pub, caféand restaurant.
“It will, most likely, justbe aplace withfewer pubs,fewer shopsandfewer restaurants.”
What thecommentatorssaid
Successfulvisa applicants
will be barred from
claiming benefitsfor five
years andwill be required
to pay £400ayearto use
the NHS. They willbe
allowed–asnow–tobring
intheirspouseandchildren.At £1,220perperson,
or £928forthose on the
shortage occupationlist,
the visa fees are among the
highest intheworld,said
Lisa O’Carroll in The
Guardian. The Institutefor
Governmentthinktank has
calculatedthatafamily of
five with afive-yearwork
visa for oneindividual
would, onceall feesand
chargesare included, have
to pay £21,299before they
could enter the UK.One of the vanitiesthat journalists liketoindulgeist he assumption
that politicians owethem straightanswers. “Whyist hisbastardlying
to me?” wasthe question JeremyPaxmanboasted of asking himself,
as if itwere thepolitician’sjobtofess up. It isn’t.For countlessreasons–tokeep acoalition together,
to calm publicanxieties, to retain the elementofsurprise–it is the politician’s job,withinacceptable
limits, to dissemble andbeeconomical withthetruth.That’s what makesagood politician. What
makesagood journalistis theability togetpast thiscamouflage.But not, crucially, at the expenseof
acertaininterrogative etiquette. Absentalevelofdeference forthe sheer difficulty of the politician’s
calling,and the political interviewdegenerates into an exerci se in humiliation andvilification,aone-
sided contest in which politicianscanonly ever appeardevious andfall everlower in public esteem.
It’s in this light we should view the actions of Boris Johnson, who has taken much flak for his lordly
treatmentnot just of Whitehall (see p.6)but ofthemedia. He refused to be interviewed by Andrew
Neil in the election campaign. He has banned ministers from appearing on the Todayprogramme and
Channel 4news. He has excluded reporters from hostile papers–including the Daily Mirror and The
Independent–from aDowning Street briefing. “An assault on press freedom,” The Guardian calls it.
And so perhaps it is.But it’s alsoareckoning–along time a-coming–withanimperious style of jour-
nalism that makes no allowances for the constraints of democratic politics.THEWEEK
Jeremy O’Grady
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