The world’s most powerful leader has tested positive for coronavirus.
President Donald Trump confirmed his diagnosis in a tweet early Friday morning, joining a growing list of world leaders infected with the virus. The list includes many leaders who have slammed or misrepresented the epidemic on issues including Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
These figures, in many ways, symbolize their failed policies, but they also have problems with the systems and societies they monitor.
Whether Trump’s diagnosis will reshape his response to the coronavirus is unknown at this stage, and it remains to be seen how the country’s acceptance of his leadership will change during the epidemic.
By many metrics, the United States has failed to stop the spread of coronavirus. Trump’s positive coronavirus test comes eight months into the epidemic, with the United States leading the way in both cases and deaths worldwide: more than 7.2 million confirmed and more than 208,000 people have died.
The president dismissed the epidemic as soon as possible and deliberately misled the public because he accepted journalist Bob Woodward. He acted against his government’s guidelines, encouraging states to reopen prematurely. She is keen on wearing masks and has organized large rallies in recent weeks – mass weddings in violation of state epidemic controls.
Most of these were “magical ideologies” – that somehow the United States would control the coronavirus, that it would simply run without intervention and sanctions. That was never going to happen. Vox’s German Lopez writes that magical thinking guided Trump before and after the outbreak in the United States:
That is a problem that continues throughout September – with Trump and his subordinates denying the existence of a resurgence in Covid-19, making false claims or increasing cases as a result of further trials. With each passing day, week, and month that the Trump administration has tried to spin the positive story, it has also resisted stronger action to allow the epidemic to continue.
It is challenging to compare across countries, but elements of this “magical ideology” were shared by some of Trump’s democratic counterparts abroad, and by dictatorial leaders in places like Iran and Belarus that have reduced the virus.
How leaders reacted to this epidemic, both before and after their diagnosis of coronavirus, is as varied as the reactions of people in their respective countries. But ignoring the threat of Covid-19 or its role only made it difficult to control the epidemic.
Bolsonaro beat the Covid-19, although its popularity has increased
In Brazil, Bolsonaro confirmed that he tested positive for coronavirus in early July, when the country had the second-highest number of cases and casualties behind the United States.
Bolsonaro, perhaps more than any other leader, aggressively denied the threat of Kovid-19. He called the coronavirus a “small flu” and said in late March that “we will all die one day.” He opposed state governors’ decisions to impose lockdown measures, took part in anti-people protests, met with supporters without wearing masks, and forced businesses to reopen despite growing outbreaks.
He lost two health ministers during the public health crisis – one fired, the other fired. Although he supported the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, the controversial antimalarial drugs, there is not much good evidence that they are effective in treating Covid-19. Bolsonaro led his recovery with those drugs, Going too far to criticize a bird like the emu with them.
Bolsonaro spent three weeks in isolation with apparently minor symptoms, and announced In late July That he would eventually test negative. His seemingly mild case helped feed into his rhetoric that the Covid-19 was no big deal, just something played out by the media. And it reinforced his image among supporters that he was a tough guy who could have easily beaten the virus, all the rest were terrified.
Yet, like the U.S., Bolsonaro’s reputation for righteousness makes his own statements difficult to believe; After recovering, he claimed to be taking antibiotics for “moldy lungs,” which he alleged were inactive during his isolated period.
“I knew I would catch him one day, because I think sadly almost everyone here would catch him eventually. What are you afraid of “Face it,” he told reporters after recovering.
“I am just sad to die. But people die every day from a lot of things, ”he added. “This is life.”
The Bolsonaro did not really change their attitude toward the epidemic when it broke out, Still boosting the economy on public health measures. He also said that Covid-19 vaccination would not be mandatory.
Even before the epidemic, Brazil was deeply divided in Bolsonaro, and its support base, which includes the evangelicals, is very vague. But Bolsonaro has significantly increased their popularity. It is now at record levels, largely due to lower incomes and a new base among working-class Brazilians who are benefiting from emergency financial aid. Bolsonaro’s strategy of focusing on economics was strategic, experts told me in the spring, a way to blame governors and everyone else when the economy crashed. But that hasn’t changed Brazil’s coronavirus route: as of October 2, more than 140,000 Brazilian covid-19s have been confirmed dead, second only to the United States.
Boris Johnson challenged to correct past mistakes
In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government initially flirted with an epidemic response strategy that would have avoided a shutdown, before eventually changing course and imposing lockdown sanctions in late March.
However, in early March, Johnson joked about shaking hands with patients at the hospital.
Johnson then tested positive for Covid-19 on March 27, and soon became so ill with Covid-19 that he was admitted to the ICU. He did not fully return to work until April 27, meaning the country’s leader was absent for a month during the national crisis.
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Johnson’s return – and his very gracious thanks to the nurses and doctors who treated him – received him a little greeting, but it did not last long. Johnson His personal popularity increased slightly After the diagnosis, but the actual approval for his government predicted his Covid-19 test, when he announced the lockdown measures.
In public statements Johnson took the coronavirus more seriously, and the government continued to prolong the lockdown into the spring into you, and stressed the need to gradually reopen. But the government has faced criticism for failing to clarify who should return to work and who should wear a mask. It added to a major scandal involving Johnson’s top adviser, who rejected coronavirus sanctions, and everyone else had to comply, and Johnson’s government approval began to decline.
Ultimately, PM delays could not escape the delays that caused the onset of the epidemic, including delayed lockdowns, persistent problems in testing and contact tracing, and failure to protect nursing homes. Johnson’s tone changed, though major government failures – some of which Johnson predicted, including problems with the NHS – made it difficult to overcome.
The UK still has the highest Covid-19 death toll in all of Europe, and Johns has filed new cases in September with a surge in cases. But he is facing resistance from members of his Conservative Party, who now see him as the incarnation of a “goat state” that was once despised. This resistance also comes from a loss of general confidence in government institutions and expertise, which helped Johnson promote the Brexit campaign. And the UK is facing a dramatic recession, which could have been worse if Johnson hadn’t reached the Brexit deal – and they probably wouldn’t have come to see how the Brexit negotiations have been blown up.
The politics created by these leaders made it difficult to control the epidemic
Trump and Bolsonaro and plenty of other governments mismanaged or withheld information from people about the coronavirus. In Iran, religious leaders initially knew about the epidemic, but resisted informing the public or taking action. It made Iran the epicenter of the earthquake; Senior clerics and government ministers fell ill.
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lakeshener Lukashenko called the coronavirus “psychosis” and said Kovid-19 could be cured with sonas and vodka. His stance extended to a failed national response that helped fuel mass protests against the dictator and his decades-long rule. Lukashenko admitted in July that he had tested positive but was asymptomatic. He also tried to spin as a force, saying he “lived on his feet.”
This is not at all surprising in dictatorial countries, where information is strictly controlled and leaders are largely not accountable to the people.
But Trump and Bolsonaro and Johnson came to power with skills and distrust in the media. The confidence of the intelligence agencies and the people in them came with real costs in preparing and protecting the public from the epidemic. Unlike political investigations or corruption scandals or complex trade negotiations, they are much harder to spin or distract from.
Political failures have contributed to the spread of epidemics everywhere. But, politics, ultimately, cannot eradicate the epidemic. The main lesson for Covid-19 has always been that an outbreak in one area is a danger everywhere, everywhere. A leader in a country where the response is broken, where public health communications are confused, is vulnerable to Covid-19 because everyone is.
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