Collage — Coronavirus upsets Boris Johnson’s plans.
The news that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been infected with the coronavirus has become one of the major global sensations of the day. In Johnson’s case, it is symbolic because not long ago he joined the camp of coronavirus skeptics who believe that there is no need to exaggerate the danger of the new virus and that the situation should be left as it is, regardless of the inevitable casualties, rather than implementing strict quarantine measures like other countries. However, British experts quickly corrected Johnson by presenting calculations that showed how such behavior could turn into a disaster for the UK. And now Johnson himself has been forced to implement quarantine measures, contradicting his previous statements.
But apparently it is too late — at least for him. And now he will have the opportunity to evaluate the correctness of his approach, according to which it is better to get over this virus as quickly as possible for as many people as possible. Of course, Boris Johnson is a young enough man, and there is no doubt that the best forces of British medicine will help him cope with the disease. So the chances of his physical recovery are quite good. But the same cannot be said for his political recovery, as this illness has struck Johnson’s government at the worst possible time — after he had finally managed to complete the Brexit saga, when the UK, having left the EU, needed stability to stand on its own feet.
This story is just one example of how unexpected interference can disrupt the plans of world leaders. Another vivid example is yesterday’s news from the U.S. that 85,500 people have been infected with the coronavirus in that country, even more than in China with its 81,800 cases. In announcing this news, President Donald Trump correctly pointed out that such a huge statistic is the result of a large number of people currently being tested in the country — over half a million. This level of information about the real state of affairs is already a plus, and we will come back to it a little later, but it is hardly a reason for great optimism.
According to numerous assessments and testimonies, the U.S. health care system as a whole is not prepared to effectively combat the pandemic, largely because the U.S. does not have a universal health care system. All this is very bad news for Trump personally, who, like Johnson, had planned to focus on completely different things — further economic development of the country and preparations for the upcoming presidential elections. The first is now highly questionable — not long ago, Trump, like Johnson, was determined not to let the coronavirus disrupt the normal course of people’s lives and business. But the explosion in the number of confirmed cases leaves him little choice — the economy will have to take a back seat to saving Americans. But the elections will also be challenging because Trump himself may now be faced with the need for something that his opponents, the Democrats, have long proposed and to which he has been opposed — the implementation of a universal healthcare system, at least at a basic level.
Let’s get back to the statistics and the number of confirmed cases. Of course, no one believes the official statistics that there were only 1,036 people infected with the coronavirus in Russia as of the morning of March 27. By comparison, 538 cases were identified in Estonia yesterday, only half as many as in Russia, despite Estonia’s much smaller population of 1.3 million compared to Russia’s 144 million. And who can believe this, given Russia’s extensive land border with China and the presence of hundreds of thousands of Chinese in Russia during this epidemic? No one believes it, especially considering that there are reports from both sides of deaths of their acquaintances from pneumonia or influenza, which are not tested for coronavirus. The scale of the real pandemic in Russia can be judged from the report published yesterday by the Dossier Center, which received closed data from the Russian government (https://dossier.center/covid19/). We have already analyzed the situation and potential of China, which is trying to demonstrate its success in fighting the virus that originated there (as well as many other similar viruses). However, when reading about China’s success in this area, one should remember how they lied, claiming that the situation was under control and that the new virus was not particularly dangerous (https://telegra.ph/Istoriya-kitajskoj-lzhi-o-koronoviruse-03-27).
For China as the workshop of global capital, it is crucial to quickly regain trust, especially now that the idea of bringing production home is gaining popularity, something the current American president is actively promoting. But despite the desire to return to normal economic development, whether in the form of new orders for Chinese manufacturers or in the form of returning to countries that previously rejected them, both options are currently in question. The world’s major powers and many of their leaders, accustomed to thinking of themselves as almost the rulers of the world, have proved powerless against an invisible virus that is crashing their economies and destroying the political plans they have worked on for many years. This shock to self-centered materialists only illustrates what every believer should know and remember: «To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and Allah has power over all things» (verse 189, Surah Al-Imran, interpreted meaning).