As Britain’s “herd immunity” strategy has turned out to be a colossal failure in combating the Coronavirus, shocking cases keep coming out from the erstwhile imperialist power that had once ruled and looted countries across the globe. The latest one being the United Kingdom Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
Taking to Twitter, Johnson said, “Over the last 24 hours I have developed mild symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus. I am now self-isolating, but I will continue to lead the government’s response via video-conference as we fight this virus. Together we will beat this.”
Over the last 24 hours I have developed mild symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus.
I am now self-isolating, but I will continue to lead the government’s response via video-conference as we fight this virus.
Together we will beat this. #StayHomeSaveLives pic.twitter.com/9Te6aFP0Ri
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) March 27, 2020
A Downing Street spokesman revealed that the 55-year old UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson experienced mild symptoms of the novel Coronavirus after answering the Prime Minister’s weekly question-and-answer session in the House of Commons Chamber. The spokesman added, “The prime minister was tested for coronavirus on the personal advice of England’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty.”
This is the second confirmed Coronavirus case in the top echelons of the State paraphernalia of the Constitutional Monarchy. Earlier, the 71-year old Prince Charles tested positive for the Coronavirus. What aggravates the crisis further is the fact that the crown-head of the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth met Prime Minister Boris Johnson on March 11 and her son, Prince Charles on March 12. She therefore also comes under the scanner.
With even the top echelons of the British Empire getting inflicted with the novel Wuhan virus, the total number of confirmed cases in the country had already shot up to 14,543 at the time of writing this story and the number of deaths stood at 759. It seems that the Great Britain saga over in the midst of the Coronavirus outbreak. But Britain has only itself to blame for this.
The British government never took the Pandemic seriously, until a large proportion of its population including the top executives got indisposed. Take for instance this video of the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in which he says, “I am shaking hands continuously. I was at a hospital the other night where there were actually some Coronavirus patients & I shook hands with everybody. People can make up their own mind but I think it’s very important to keep shaking hands.”
‘I’m shaking hands continuously. I was at a hospital the other night where there were actually some Coronavirus patients & I shook hands with everybody. People can make up their own mind but I think it’s very important to keep shaking hands.’pic.twitter.com/mvPEE13udm
— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 27, 2020
While the entire world decided to forgo handshakes for the time being and adopt “Namaste”, the Indian way of greeting people is gaining wide acceptability in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, be it the US President Donald Trump or the French President Emmanuel Macron, or of course Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the United Kingdom decided to stick with handshakes snubbing “Namaste”.
After all, why should Britain, the country that completely colonialised India for almost two centuries adopt the ways of the inferior Indian people? Britain still considers itself to be a superior race than India and it seems this sense of cultural/ racial supremacy has turned out to be counter-productive for the United Kingdom.
In fact, it was this sense of superiority complex that made the Great Britain plainly dismissive towards COVID-19, when it was struck by the China-made Wuhan virus. In fact, the United Kingdom was the only country that publicly admitted the faux pas of “herd immunity”.
Announcing the ‘herd immunity’ plan, Patrick Vallance, Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK government, had said that the authorities would contain the spread of the virus but would not suppress it completely. He had added, “a 60 per cent infection rate would help build up a degree of ‘herd immunity’.”
The idea was not only highly unethical but also as it turns out, technically flawed. Coronavirus is still a new virus, and as of now we still don’t know if a person develops immunity to the virus on recovering from the novel infection. And there have been cases in China of patients getting second positive tests for the Wuhan virus. In such a situation, how can “herd immunity” even kick in?
The United Kingdom allowed its schools, theatres, clubs and restaurants to remain open for far too long allowing people to come into contact with each other. If a single ‘Patient 31‘ who did not practice social distancing in the nick of time, wreaked havoc in South Korea, imagine the level of damage that will be caused by a sizeable population in the UK who were allowed to get infected only because the authorities wanted “herd immunity”.
The United Kingdom remained ignorant, as it felt that a virus which could inflict the Asian people would not infect people and cause their deaths in the United Kingdom, for Britain still looks at itself as superior to the Asian people that it had ruthlessly subjugated only around a century ago.
The Constitutional Monarchy has been undone only by its embedded sense of superiority complex and racial supremacy, and now as Coronavirus infects a large proportion of the country, it seems that the Great Britain saga is all but over.
