Coronavirus And World War 2

While those supporting alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson continue to cling to the notion that he is doing a good job, and that the British public are being adequately protected from the risks posed by the Coronavirus pandemic, there is an increasing chorus of disapproval as we see scenes of crowded buses, and Tube station platforms, in London, and the prospect of a second spike looming in the background.

Bozo The Clown’s preferred comparison is to Winston Churchill, who as Prime Minister during the darkest days of World War 2 exemplified British resolve and determination in the face of grim adversity. But now it is not the personal comparison that is coming back to bite Bozo, but that in numbers of deaths. Because, despite the spin and deflection by his cheerleaders, the Covid-19 death toll for the UK is nearing another milestone.

Borish? NEVAH!

Yesterday afternoon, FT economics editor Chris Giles brought the news that showed the milestone was in sight. “Update, following today's official [ONS] data of total deaths, a cautious estimate of the number of UK excess deaths up to 12 May is 59,700. Of these 51,000 have happened and 8,700 are estimates bringing the official data up to date using evidence from hospitals”. Almost 60,000 deaths. And he had more.

“The good news is that excess deaths are now falling on a weekly basis across all parts of the UK and in all settings. The bad news is they still are higher than expected because hospital deaths are falling as a share of total deaths”. He concluded “We cannot [yet] say the UK is the worst in Europe because Italy's data is yet to be published, but the UK excess deaths are high on any comparable international basis”.

Yet our Government is putting its citizens in the Coronavirus firing line this week with the urging of Bozo of a return to work. Scott Bryan, seeing a Sky News video of a crowded bus disgorging its passengers at Stratford Bus Centre, observed “This is in Newham, by the way, which has the second highest poverty in the UK. The borough also has the highest percentage of people in London working in low paid work … Newham also has the highest death rate caused by the coronavirus in England and Wales”.

Where is all this leading? What was that about a World War 2 comparison? Will Black said what he thought: “At this rate there will be more Brits killed in a year by Covid-19 than the 67,000 Brit civilians killed in the entirety of World War 2. We are not seeing ‘herd immunity’, we are seeing mass homicide. Tens of thousands of avoidable deaths. [Boris Johnson] has blood on his hands”. One for Bozo cheerleaders to chew over.

And Ian Fraser, looking at Giles’ analysis, reminded his followers “In early April, when I shared a Guardian story on [Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation]’s prediction that 66,314 would die in the UK of coronavirus by July, I was subjected to a ferocious onslaught of vitriol from hundreds, if not thousands, of pro-Boris trolls and bots”.

Our Government is sending hundreds of thousands of Britons into a near future from which a significant percentage of them are going to emerge in wooden boxes. The death toll is now approaching that of the civilian population in a real, six-year, shooting war.

The Boris as Churchill comparison was right. But for all the wrong reasons.

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