Two days after British Crown Prince Charles was diagnosed, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was also "infected". On March 27 local time, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson posted a video on his social media, announcing that he had tested positive for the new coronavirus.

Johnson's political career may be redefined by the new coronavirus.

Two days after British Crown Prince Charles was diagnosed, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was also "infected".

On March 27 local time, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson posted a video on his social media, announcing that he had tested positive for the new coronavirus.

He said that his body showed "slight symptoms" in the past 24 hours and tested positive for the new coronavirus. I am currently in quarantine, but I will continue to lead the government's work to fight the new crown pneumonia epidemic through video conferencing and other means.

This March may be a bit difficult for Johnson.

Before the diagnosis, his COVID-19 prevention and control policy went through a transition from advocating "herd immunity" to urgently mobilizing "all to fight the epidemic". As the epidemic continues to spread, he has to stand at the front desk more and more, with a messy blonde hair almost every day. At the epidemic prevention press conference at No. 10 Downing Street, he earnestly asked the people to strictly implement prevention and control measures.

"The new coronavirus is the biggest threat the UK has faced in centuries. The road to response is difficult, and it will still unfortunately lose many lives." Johnson said, "However, the road ahead of us is clearer day by day, and the British people who are facing the challenge will be stronger than ever."

. At the end of February this year, there were only 20 patients diagnosed with new coronavirus in the UK, but this number began to soar in early March. 33 cases, 373 cases, 1140 cases... Under the severe situation, Johnson, who has always been reckless, declared: "The worst possible outcome is 500,000 deaths, and Hyde Park can also be changed to a morgue." You should know that the number of deaths in Britain during World War II was less than 500,000.

htmlIn early December, many countries in mainland Europe closed schools and implemented strict quarantine on the streets, while schools, hotels, theaters, clubs and sports venues in the UK were open without delay. The prime minister who just got engaged seems not to be in work yet, but only advises elderly people over 70 years old and people with flu symptoms to stay at home. He even said with "confident confidence": "You wash your hands frequently, just sing happy birthday songs twice in your hand!"

Of course, Johnson did not give up on the work of blocking the spread of the virus and presided over the release of a 28-page epidemic response plan, which divided the response measures into four stages: closure, delay, research and slowing down the epidemic. The UK National Health Service (NHS) has also begun to increase the number of daily tests for COVID-19, working hard to prepare for curbing the "larger-scale spread" of the virus.

htmlOn the evening of March 11, the World Health Organization declared the new crown pneumonia epidemic a global "pandemic". Surprisingly, the former "Empire of the Sun" raised the "white flag" - stop providing tests for mild patients and only checking for severe patients, and epidemic prevention policies have changed from "encirclement" to "delay".

The next day, Johnson told all the people bluntly that he should be mentally prepared to "the person he loved died early due to illness." He recommends that people with cough or fever be self-isolated for 7 days, and those over 70 who are susceptible to isolate at home for more than 4 months as much as possible. At the same time, schools will not be closed or large-scale activities will not be stopped. He also advocates that citizens view their suggestions through the NHS official website. Only when they "feel that they cannot cope with their symptoms at home, their condition has worsened, and their symptoms have not improved after 7 days of isolation" will the patient be advised to contact the hospital. In the view of Singapore's National Development Minister Lawrence Huang, this statement is equivalent to giving up measures to curb the new coronavirus. But Patrick Valans, chief scientific adviser to the UK government, defended Johnson, saying that this negative response strategy is to delay the spread of the virus and make the time for infected people to appear more scatter. "Avoid too many patients getting sick at the same time so that they will not overwhelm the medical system or even the entire society." As evidence, the chief medical consultant also added the concept of "herd immunity". "The goal of the policy is to allow the new coronavirus to slowly infect 60% of the British people, and the recovered people will be immune, thereby cutting off the virus's infection chain."

The concept of "herd immunity" in medicine refers to allowing a sufficient proportion of people to form immunity against infectious diseases by being vaccinated or getting sick, so that this infectious disease cannot be spread between people. In the absence of a vaccine, "herd immunity" can only rely on the immunity generated by the patient after healing, while patients who cannot recover can only die.

Valens's "absurd" explanation immediately sparked a tide of doubt. Hundreds of scientists have published open letters expressing concerns: It will take at least one year for the new coronavirus vaccine to be widely used. Moreover, from the current study, all populations are susceptible patients. The possibility of "secondary infection" makes "herd immunity" more complicated.

Many British doctors urged Johnson to disclose the basis for his refusal to follow Europe to implement epidemic prevention measures, and some people accused the Johnson government and the Conservative Party he led of deliberately killing the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled. The World Health Organization has also issued a warning to this "cold-blooded anti-epidemic" method.

Johnson, who "takes a detour" in anti-epidemic strategy, became the target of public criticism. There have been rumors that he is a temperamental person who will lose weight for love, but now on social media, the hashtag of the Torygenocide (Torygenocide) is in popularity.

However, "herd immunity" seems to echo the British government's consistent rationality and coldness. As the number of infections rose like a rocket, Johnson did not immediately introduce an isolation policy, but chose to wait. The reason behind this was that the government was unwilling to let the economy collapse and airlines go bankrupt.

In response, Valans further "clarified" that: "Johnson's postponement of strict epidemic prevention and isolation measures is based on scientific behavioral logic - the implementation of severe measures too early will have negative effects. When infectious diseases reach their peak, people are slacking off their compliance with restrictive regulations."

"Many countries have no long-term plans to control the epidemic, and the British government has considered it in a long-term way, hoping to delay the peak period, disperse the number of infections, so as to gain time, and find the best way to have the least impact on public health." Graham Medley, director of the Center for Mathematical Modeling of Infectious Diseases in London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, also expressed his support.

data shows that the number of severe beds owned by every 100,000 people in the UK is 6.6, ranking low among EU countries. Immunologists from Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine show that the spread of the new coronavirus will soon overwhelm the UK health care system, so cases need to be minimized in the short term.

However, the panic caused by the "confused" measures cannot disappear immediately. Some Chinese students chose to leave the UK by plane, and Imperial University doctoral student Wan Weifeng was one of them. He said: "You can understand the pressure on epidemic prevention that Johnson bears, but as an individual, he is unwilling to bear this price."

seriously called for "staying at home and saving lives."

html On March 20, the cumulative number of confirmed cases reached 3,983. Johnson finally decided to suspend the daily social life of the people. He ordered the immediate closure of all bars, restaurants and cafes across the country, and also promoted legislation in parliament, hoping to pass an emergency bill to grant the government greater disposal rights. At this point, the UK's epidemic prevention thinking has completely changed.

On the night Johnson announced this major decision, many British people rushed to the bar to drink before the "lockdown" and resisted the Prime Minister's decision in a high-profile manner. Even Johnson's 79-year-old father, Stanley Johnson, sang "Taiwan opera" and said in an interview with the media: "If I need to go to the bar, of course I will go directly, after all, I have to add some popularity to the bar!"

Faced with the "calm and heart" people and the rising number of new cases, Johnson is no longer "Buddhist". He warned that if the people do not strictly observe the lockdown regulations, the medical system will collapse within two weeks. He took the lead in transporting the goods to the Prime Minister's Office - some media photographed several trucks transporting supplies at the entrance of No. 10 Downing Street, filled with sanitary rolls of paper and food.

·A media photographed several trucks transporting supplies at the entrance of No. 10 Downing Street, filled with toilet paper and food.

htmlOn March 23, Johnson added the tag "Stay at Home and Save Life" to his Twitter name.He requires British people to leave their homes in very limited circumstances within 3 weeks: buy daily necessities; perform one form of exercise every day; go out to seek medical help or take care of vulnerable groups; and go out to and from get off work as "absolutely necessary". Moreover, the police have the right to arrest those who do not cooperate.

The British people have mixed opinions on the strict "stall order". Some people believe that staying at home during the epidemic is a humanitarian obligation. Some people object to restricting the freedom of ordinary people like they are to treat prisoners. More people criticized Johnson for promulgating the measures too late, "these quarantine and closure measures should have been promulgated long ago." The reality is that there are obviously fewer people on the streets of the UK, and most people are consciously keeping a distance from others.

As the world's first country to use vaccines, the UK has accelerated drug development while comprehensively controlling the epidemic. Six new coronavirus research projects received the first batch of government investments of £20 million (1 pound is about 8.3 yuan), including two studies focusing on vaccination trials. There are also reports that the NHS is considering converting an international exhibition center in London into a temporary hospital with a capacity of 4,000 patients.

·On March 24 local time, British Health Secretary Matthew Hancock announced that the UK will build a new emergency hospital at the London International Convention and Exhibition Centre (ExCeL), which will accommodate 4,000 patients.

Bloomberg analyzed that the reason why Johnson's "brupt style" was a research report published by Imperial University on March 16. The report proposes that if the British government continues to adopt a "delay strategy", it may eventually lead to 250,000 deaths in the UK; if the "blocking strategy" is adopted, the total death toll in the UK will drop sharply to about 20,000.

One of the main participants in this report is Neil Ferguson, a professor at Imperial University. In his report, he proposed that the only feasible way to control the spread of the new crown epidemic is to take stricter measures to shift from "delay" to "blocking."

So, Johnson changed his past cynicism and said seriously: "If you do not comply with these measures, it is putting people's lives at risk. In order to protect our NHS and save lives, you must stay at home." He also did not forget to cheer the people up, saying that he was confident that he would reverse the epidemic in the UK within 12 weeks, provided that people must strictly abide by the requirements to avoid social contact.

The COVID-19 pandemic:

The help or resistance of "Brexit"?

Some analysts say that Johnson's political career will be redefined by the new coronavirus.

More than a month ago, he happily celebrated the completion of the Brexit mission, everything went smoothly, and now he is in trouble again. Opposition Labor Leader Jeremy Corbin criticized him for being "far behind" in dealing with the coronavirus; many MPs pressed him to threaten a "cabinet rebellion" if he continued to sit idly. It can be seen that Johnson has become reliable and pragmatic, not only for the safety of the people but also for his own political security.

The "Brexit" process encountered a virus crisis, which is even more difficult for Johnson.

Starting from January 31, 2020, the UK and the EU have entered a transition period after the "breakup", with the goal of continuing to maintain the relationship between the UK and the EU in order to reach a mutually beneficial trade agreement and avoid economic gaps. The transition period will expire at the end of this year. Whether to extend the transition period requires consensus before July this year.

For Johnson, who is strongly advocating for Brexit, it will be very embarrassing to request an extension of the transition period. But Europe has become the center of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, and even the chief representative of the EU's "Brexit" negotiations has been infected with the virus. Negotiation efficiency will inevitably be affected. On the other hand, the epidemic has also intensified the British people's "alienation" sentiment towards Europe. From the current response strategy of European countries to "flying their own lives when the disaster is approaching", the British really cannot see the benefits that Churchill's call for the establishment of a "united Europe" in 1946.

According to modeling analysis by Chris Whity, chief medical consultant of the UK government, the epidemic in the UK will peak from the end of May to mid-June. But Britain's "Brexit" has exacerbated the difficulty of the NHS's shortage of manpower. Since the Brexit referendum, more than 10,000 EU citizens have resigned from the NHS, including nearly 5,000 nurses.As a last resort, Johnson called on 4,000 retired nurses and 7,500 clinicians to return to their NHS positions.

Johnson is not careful about the details, but he is good at boosting morale and knows how to please the public, and has created the strongest image in British politics in recent years. However, just as Theresa May's term ended due to "Brexit" and Gordon Brown lost to the financial crisis, regardless of whether the "Brexit" process goes smoothly, Johnson's term achievements will definitely be closely related to the merits and demerits of handling the new crown epidemic.

The UK hopes to strengthen relevant international cooperation

html On the evening of March 23, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with Johnson on the phone, emphasizing that the UK hopes that the UK will strengthen cooperation with China, while ensuring the flow of necessary personnel and smooth trade, minimize the risk of epidemic spread.

"The virus does not distinguish between national boundaries and races. Only by working together can all mankind win the battle. All countries should promote cooperation within the framework of the United Nations and the G20, strengthen information and experience exchanges and sharing, strengthen scientific research and cooperation, support the WHO to play its due role, and promote the improvement of global health governance." Xi Jinping said.

Johnson is very clear about the importance of China. He once said that his daughter was learning Chinese, and even said that she wanted to introduce Chinese classes to British students' classrooms.

After giving up the "Buddhist" anti-epidemic strategy this time, he began to take active actions and said: "The current epidemic situation in the UK is severe. The British Front is studying and learning from China's useful experience and taking scientific and effective prevention and control measures." "The Chinese government and the Chinese people have made great achievements in preventing and controlling the epidemic through hard work and great efforts. I congratulate you on this." Johnson said, "The British side supports the important role of the WHO and hopes that all parties will deepen relevant cooperation within multilateral frameworks such as the G20."

In addition to Johnson, leaders of many countries expressed their affirmation of China's outstanding achievements in epidemic prevention and control when talking to President Xi Jinping, and hope to strengthen exchanges of experience with China and jointly fight the epidemic.

French President Macron said that France sincerely thanks China for its valuable support and help and is willing to carry out bilateral health cooperation with China. Egyptian President Sisi said that Egypt has always firmly believed that China can successfully defeat the epidemic and will surely become stronger. Kazakh President Tokayev said that China once again demonstrated its efficient governance capabilities to deal with complex and difficult challenges. Polish President Duda said that China has taken timely, decisive and effective measures to effectively curb the spread of the epidemic, and the relevant experience is worth learning from by Poland.

The changes in Johnson's anti-epidemic policy have caused many British people to think. Some people say that without the farce of "herd immunity", perhaps Charles would not have been infected. Some people also say that in the face of the epidemic, the whole world is on the same boat, and cooperation in a consistent manner is the most important thing.

Now, Johnson himself is also infected, which may push him to brew more powerful and effective "big moves" in the fight against the epidemic.