Here's how world leaders have responded to COVID-19

World leaders united as they aim to unite their countries against COVID-19

A medical war against an invisible enemy

By mid March, people all across the globe were able to tune in to broadcasts of their leaders equating the dire nature of this pandemic to a time of war. This is mostly to imply that a combined and concerted effort from all citizens and some sectors of private industry would be required to most effectively combat the scourge threatening the economic health of these nations and, more importantly, the lives of its citizens. While there were subtle differences, many echoed the words of Britain’s Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, from March 17th: “We must act like any wartime government and do whatever it takes to support our economy.”

Sacrifices required across the board

Even though, thankfully, a majority of people in the world won’t fall victim to this virus directly, world leaders are in chorus in their plea to all citizens: support each other, make collective sacrifices and change our habits, short term, so that we don't all feel the long term pain of these times. “We will take on this crisis, and we will get through it together, by each of us being responsible for ourselves and for others,” says President Macron of France.

A moment to define a generation

Understanding the drastic nature of the changes, steps, and sacrifices being requested, leaders go on to underscore the fact that this sort of action hasn't been necessary since the middle of the twentieth century, or earlier. If ever there were to be a period of time to define a generation or generation(s), it is now. Moments like these that have no true precedent in recent memory highlight our collective fragility and remind us that complacency and creature comforts can lead to a lack of preparedness. President Trump mentioned this very issue in some of his signature, off-script, rambling sentence fragment style: “They never did - nobody has ever done anything like what we're doing. If the President of the United States finds himself in a brand new position it suddenly must hold true that nobody else in human history has either.

Brut.