How the mighty fall

Call it fate, call it karma, call it good old-fashioned bad luck, but an alarming number of world leaders have fallen victim to COVID-19. In certain cases, acts of flagrant irresponsibility are clearly a root cause.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson led the contagion charge by ignoring advice from the UK government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), released on March 3 that advised “against greetings such shaking hands and hugging, given the existing evidence about the importance of hand hygiene.”

That very day, Johnson visited an English hospital with confirmed coronavirus patients, boasting over shaking hands “with everyone”.

Lo and behold, by March 27, Johnson found himself in intensive care for three days after having contracted COVID-19, a day on which nearly 300 Brits succumbed to the disease. He made a full recovery.

On this side of the Atlantic, the major news of the moment—that could have a significant impact on the 2020 presidential election—is President Trump and FLOTUS Melania Trump’s recent diagnoses of COVID-19 made on October 2. Although in the high-risk category—over age 70 and obese—Donald Trump’s perspective on the virus has been a series of mixes messages, held together by a red thread of refusing to wear masks with any consistency, in spite of medical advice to the contrary.

In January we were told “we have it under control,” in February, “It’s going to disappear, One day, it’s a miracle, it will disappear.” In March the president refused testing, stating, “I don’t think it’s a big deal.”

Of the president’s health we will more in the coming days. But is reassuring to know that he and FLOTUS are being treated with steroids, not bleach.

 

At press time, 210,000 Americans had perished from COVID-19