Editorial Ta Nea: Explaining

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson two nights ago did what all those who have been treated for Covid-19 and discharged from hospital have done before him.

He thanked his doctors for saving his life and thus met his human need and obligation to express his gratitude.

Now we come to his political duty. Did he do everything possible to protect the lives of his fellow citizens?

This question concerns the actions of leaders of other countries as well.

The British PM nearly lost his life.

He fell victim to his own policy of implementing the theory of herd immunity yet he is by no means the only leader who downplayed the pandemic for the sake of the economy.

US President Donald Trump did precisely the same thing and now he is sitting back and watching his fellow citizens who fell victim to the coronavirus being buried in mass graves.

This spectacle undeniably offends human dignity and does not confer honour on any country.

Now is the hour of battle and is not the time to offer an accounting.

Still, for a leader a brief statement of thanks to those who saved his life in no way suffices.

He must explain why other lives that could have been saved had they not been sacrifice on the altar a hardly humanitarian theory were not.