MAY: Sunday the 17th
A Dastardly Trap
Toltott Kaposzta, was on the menu tonight. No, we hadn’t exhumed and cooked a former soviet gymnast, we’d stuffed a cabbage with ground meat, to pretty tasty effect too. Stuffing peppers was even better but that’s not strictly traditional. Still, from expecting a conveyor belt of Paprika flavoured goulash from Hungary (3,535 cases 26, new 462 deaths, 11 new1) everyone has been pleasantly surprised. We couldn’t find a crowd-pleasing documentary so turned to Richard Ayoade’s Travel Man. The stuff he and Aisling Bea were eating looked much worse than ours. I guess that point of a comedy travelogue through.
UK daily deaths were the lowest since lockdown began today (243,699, 3,534, 34,636 deaths, 170 new1). In completely unrelated events the government offered another sacrificial lamb to the media today- Michael Gove, still hated by those my age for his pointless meddling with the school exam system in 2013. The Andrew Marr Show2 was the temple, Andrew Marr the priest.
When asked about schools he claimed it was “absolutely safe” for students and a staff to return. Marr brought up the British Medical Association report that said case numbers are still far too high for a return to school, and asked again. Could Gove guarantee the safety of teachers? He said he could. The nurseries that had stayed open hasn’t seen cases spikes.
20% of them3 are reporting cases however, and attendance has dropped massively, so much many are at risk of bankruptcy4. Anyway, Marr offered Gove a final chance, in disbelief that speaker so slippery had just seen an obvious trap, jumped into it, and burned the escape ladder on TV. “You can guarantee that no teacher is going to catch coronavirus a result of going back to school?”
The realisation finally hit. The response5 was firm, if undermining of all the government’s lockdown easing policies. “The only way, ever, to ensure that you never catch coronavirus, is to stay at home.” So why push things. Cases are falling, the UK is closing in on a controllable situation. People are scared. With no electoral pressure it baffles me that the Conservatives are pushing ahead with this summer re-opening strategy with the virus still out there and no vaccine available.
The most effective national responses have been fast, aggressive, and keyed in on isolating cases to keep the numbers small and manageable. With persistence eradication is possible. Instead the government is running out of people to throw under busses defending itself. Whenever one gets squashed a credible voice is lost, along with trust. There will be elections eventually. If the public thinks all your candidates are morons votes will go to the enemy.
Internationally it’s no time for confetti canons either. Local elections6 in Benin (339, 0, 2, 01) went ahead despite the virus and extensive restrictions7 being in place. The current president Patrice Talon has been slowly turning the country into a dictatorship by eradicating8 political opposition, often exiling9 rivals on false charges. Cases in Brazil (233,142, 14,919, 15,633, 8161) have surpassed Italy (225,435, 675, 31,908, 145), India10 (96,169, 5,242, 3,029, 157) is extending lockdown by two weeks, and Madagascar11 records its first death, a 57-year-old medical worker who suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure.
Bad news for President Andry Rajoelina. For a month12 he’s been claiming Covid-Organics, a herbal drink developed in the country, is a miracle medicine able to prevent and cure COVID. Lack of evidence hasn’t stopped it being distributed across the country and aggressively marketed by Rajoelina himself to other African leaders. You wonder if he’s nationalistic, popularity farming, or profiteering. There’s a link with yesterday’s Iron Bru myth, and Hydroxychloroquine. Covid-Organics main ingredient is an antimalarial treatment13 this time artemisia, extracted from plants.
On a funnier, but equally disappointing note, the Canadian province of Quebec is “strongly recommending” the public wear face coverings and is looking at14 making doing so compulsory. Last year Quebec banned15 the display of religious symbols in government or by civil service employees. Further, anyone wearing religious face coverings would be denied use16 of government services like healthcare or public transport. Quebec has been pushing secularisation for a decade. Still, this seemed oddly targeted at Muslim women at the time.
Now Horacio Arruda, Quebec’s Public Health Director, says “You need to have a good argument for infringing on individual rights for the sake of a collective right.14” Inevitably there are those who think mandatory face masking is a glaring imposition on their personal freedoms. They might find themselves with some surprising allies.
1 WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Situation Report– 119 2 BBC One The Andrew Marr Show Michael Gove: schools in England safe to reopen 3 Children’s Commission Technical Report Survey of early years providers’ experiences during the Covid-19 4 British Medical Association Briefing on COVID-19 and childcare 5 Andrew Woodcock reporting on the same Gove interview for The Independent Coronavirus: Michael Gove contradicts himself moments after ‘guaranteeing’ teachers will be safe at school 6 Agence France Presse for Barrons Benin Votes In Controversial Poll Despite Virus 7 Jerry Omondi for CGTN Africa Benin holds local elections despite COVID-19 threat 8 Pierre Lepidi for Le Monde Afrique Au Bénin, quatre ans après l’élection de Patrice Talon, la dérive autoritaire 9 News Wires for France24 Benin votes in controversial elections despite Covid-19 threat 10 BBC News India extends coronavirus lockdown by two weeks 11 Adekunle Rasak for Nigerian Tribune Online JUST IN: Madagascar records first coronavirus death 12 The Madagascar Tribune Andry Rajoelina annonce un nouveau remède contre le coronavirus 13 Simon Allison and Aanu Adeoye for .coda Madagascar pushes untested herbal coronavirus remedy on its neighbors 14 Tracey Lindeman for The Guardian Quebec ponders making masks mandatory after banning the veil 15 BBC News Quebec passes religious symbols secularism bill 16 Julie Gordon for Reuters Quebec to ban public workers from wearing religious symbols