Coronavirus and the Privileged

How the global pandemic is highlighting the gulf between rich and poor

The coronavirus pandemic is beginning to tighten its grip on the UK. Each day, hundreds more cases are confirmed, and the death toll continues to rise. The country is moving towards complete lock down, and what does the public have to comfort them through these hard times? Celebrities getting tested and complaining about having to self-isolate in their multi million pound houses and members of the royal family trying to sympathise.

The list of the rich and famous being diagnosed with the virus is growing, raising concern as to the priority of who is getting tested.

Actors and sports stars have tested positive for the disease, which is of course awful. However, it is the celebrity who goes online and complains about their isolation situation which is the worst kind. Not everyone has a mansion to be ‘trapped in’. Get over it.

Why are these celebrities getting tested? Its not like they are key workers or even vital cogs in society, which could well crumble if these tests continue to not go to the right people. Perhaps those fighting this on the front line, within the NHS, should be getting tested over actors?

The New York Times wrote this week that if you want to be tested in the USA for coronavirus, being rich and famous will help. In a country which has a dystopian, capitalist nightmare for a health care system at the best of times, the paper might have a point.

If brits were feeling gloomy about what lies ahead, at least they have the outdated, out of touch royal family to patronise them whilst they self-isolate.

The Queen issued a statement to say that we are entering uncertain times. I understand that she needs to isolate given her age, but she cannot begin to understand how thousands of elderly people will be feeling.

After all, that little old woman in a village somewhere will not have staff to see to them. Most importantly, many older members of the public may not see another person for weeks on end.

There are few things more uncomfortable to see than members of the royal family acting like they are in the same boat as their ‘subjects’. This might only be topped by men who were born in the 1970s talking about encapsulating the ‘blitz spirit’ during isolation.

The UK is slowly catching up to other nations around the world in terms of the coronavirus impact. Almost every other day, aspects of society are being suspended or restricted.

We don’t know how long we will be in this situation. Isolation and panic buying are on the rise, two things which the rich and powerful will not be able to sympathise with at any level near to the regular working class person.

Will that stop some of them from plastering every second of their isolation on social media? Absolutely not.

If this virus has shown anything, its that the rich and privileged will never truly understand hardship, even during a global pandemic. That has been the case for centuries, and it isn’t going to change anytime soon.