This post was originally published on this site
“ ‘This is a health issue with huge ramifications for social welfare, and it’s a welfare issue with huge ramifications for public health.’ ”
That’s Emily Maitlis sharing her thoughts on the coronavirus pandemic in an opening monologue on the BBC program “Newsnight” that helped her become a viral sensation across social media.
“The language around COVID-19 has sometimes felt trite and misleading. You do not survive the illness through fortitude and strength of character, whatever the prime minister’s colleagues will tell us,” she said, seemingly pointing a finger at U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab for suggesting that Boris Johnson would beat the virus because he is a “fighter.”
See:Boris Johnson out of intensive care as his coronavirus treatment continues at London hospital
Maitlis also took issue with the view that the coronavirus is a “leveler” between rich and poor.
“Those serving on the front line right now — bus drivers and shelf stackers, nurses, care-home workers, hospital staff and shopkeepers — are disproportionately the lower-paid members of our workforce,” she said. “They are more likely to catch the disease because they are more exposed.”
Clips of the segment have been viewed millions of times across social media in the past day.
Here’s the full segment which aired Wednesday night in the U.K.:
On Twitter TWTR, -0.28%, she was mostly cheered, starting with praise from Emily Bell, director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University:
