One million deaths

At least one million people have now died of the Covid-19 coronavirus worldwide. Hundreds of thousands of these could have been avoided if the leaders of some of the world’s biggest countries just listened to scientists. Instead, leaders of some of the largest countries in the world acted like the virus was a non-issue, and then deflected blame when thousands of their citizens began dying. Unsurprisingly, the worst-affected countries in terms of deaths all have leaders who have displayed fascistic tendencies and astounding incompetence, even before the virus hit. This includes the US, Brazil, India, Mexico, and the UK. Between them, they account for over 565,000 deaths, or 56% of the total death toll.

Despite its economic might and global standing, the US alone accounts for over 20% of global deaths, thanks to the astoundingly bad ‘leadership’ of President Donald Trump. To this day, the US president has downplayed the virus, failed to encourage mask usage, and tried to deflect blame for his mishandling of the virus response by blaming China and the World Health Organisation. Despite this, top US virologists, including some that work for the government, have bluntly said the buck stops at the Resolute Desk in the White House. Like other leaders we will discuss, Trump claimed he knew more about science than actual scientists. He even went as far as recommending unproven treatments and suggesting that people try drinking bleach.

In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro, a neo-fascist populist like Trump, also downplayed the virus and publicly argued against better minds against imposing restrictions to control the virus. Like his friend Trump, Bolsonaro kept holding rallies, which are considered “super-spreader” events, and trying to fudge data to make his response look less than pathetic. In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi blamed everyone but his own government. His haphazard Covid-19 lockdown and reopening have seen India become the world leader in new cases and deaths. Mexico had similar problems, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also downplayed the virus until it almost killed him.

We know populist rhetoric can be dangerous. We now also know that populist leaders in a pandemic are fatal.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2020.

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