Boris Johnson: How he got from carelessness to insensitivity

In early March, Boris Johnson faced the crisis of coronation with characteristic negligence.

Boris Johnson: How he got from carelessness to insensitivity

In early March, Boris Johnson faced the crisis of coronation with characteristic negligence. Any thought of imposing restrictive measures on him was foreign. Today he appeared very serious and determined to postpone the lifting of the quarantine measures indefinitely.What has happened in the meantime? The United Kingdom has been given a privileged position on the list of countries most affected by the epidemic. He also got a strong taste of Covid-19 and individual participation in the concept of "herd immunity" by being treated and spending three days in the intensive care unit.

Handshakes and "collective immunity"

On March 3, during a press conference, 55-year-old Boris Johnson boasted that he had "tightened his grip" on a visit to a Covid-19 hospital. Two days later, the United Kingdom recorded its first death from the epidemic.On March 12, the British prime minister spoke of the "worst crisis in a generation" and warned that many Britons would lose loved ones.But the behavior of the British government is astonishing, at the tip of a Europe that at the time was beginning to take drastic quarantine measures. Now Boris Johnson appears on camera to repeat the instructions for a good hand wash. And he washes his hands himself. To show the appropriate duration of the project, he sings "Happy Birthday to You" twice.The Johnson administration's strategy is to pursue "collective immunity" and not to impose restrictive measures on the British. It follows everywhere.

Transformation and change

In the face of harsh criticism, and especially after the publication of a study by Imperial College that warned of hundreds of thousands of deaths in the event of no social distancing, the government forgets its "heretical" approach and retaliates.On March 16, the government urges citizens to avoid any unnecessary contact and movement and to work remotely. The order to close schools, pubs, restaurants, cinemas and gyms follows on March 20.On March 23, Boris Johnson ends up addressing the British on television: quarantine is the new reality for the United Kingdom as well.

From quarantine to the ICU

Four days later, Boris Johnson announced that he had been diagnosed with coronary heart disease. But he assures that the symptoms are "mild", that he continues to "lead" the government and the country from his residence in Downing Street. He posts videos of the quarantine and chairs the cabinet.One week later, the pregnancy of Carrie Simmons, a pregnant woman, reveals that she is recovering from Covid-19.Boris Johnson is out of luck. On April 5, and after Queen Elizabeth's speech, the news dropped like a bomb: Boris Johnson has been taken to hospital "for precautionary reasons" due to persistent symptoms and especially fever. Twenty-four hours later, he will be transferred to an intensive care unit at St Thomas' Hospital, where he will spend three days receiving oxygen, but "without being placed in a respirator."After a few days in the hospital, where he "reads Tenden and solves sudoku", he leaves the hospital on April 12.Today, he returned to taking the reins of the country and expressed satisfaction with the progress made in the development of the epidemic, as deaths and the number of patients are on the rise. But, very seriously, he invokes the patience of the British: despite the dramatic social and economic implications of quarantine, measures must be taken to prevent a resurgence of the epidemic.