The day Boris Johnson was taken into intensive care, I stayed up late to catch up on some US news by watching one of the US news media outlets.

The main news was that our problems were very similar to yours: not enough availability of protective clothing, masks and visors and we are even worse when it comes to testing kits. We accepted the fact that the supply chain for these goods needed to gain momentum and they are not ordered from Amazon Prime to be received the next day. 

According to a news conference, the vice president called all 50 governors and asked them individually what they need as the governors are in charge of the states’ health organizations.

When the news conference ended, we had 6 journalists (one being an MD) started their news analysis. While I was expecting how they were going to analyze the facts and figures that had been given, all I heard was a rant against the President. It was all personal and about President Trump. It was quite disgusting. The politics were alive and in full throttle, at a time we should be pulling together.

Boris Johnson has been backed by 93% of the adult population of the UK (before he was hospitalized) and the whole nation is behind the government to defeat the enemy. This may not hold up forever for Boris Johnson, but right now we understand that the enemy is an indiscriminate killer virus and not a political ideology. 

I felt these journalists’ comments were despicable in the current circumstances that we are all living in. I understand that President Trump has not been voted in by everyone and he may have his faults. But right now, the enemy is not President Trump, the enemy is a virus. 

Let us not politicize the situation. We need to keep an eye on the enemy and not on politics. We need to bring national unity against this enemy and it is not a time for politics. 

Hal Turkmen

Moultrie and the United Kingdom