Respond to prefers-color-scheme dark in app web views

Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

Show NLP summaries collection recirc on article pages

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

Retired cop meets abandoned baby he helped 23 years ago: ‘What are the odds?’

I used to dismiss my mom’s advice. Then I found a note she wrote before she died.  

Photos of his mom at lunch are a balm people didn’t know they needed

Can you spot bad financial advice on TikTok? Take our quiz.

5 myths about Social Security as the program faces a funding crisis

Social Security has to be fixed. But you still need your own savings.

Pentagon worried its primary satellite launcher can’t keep pace

U.S.-China talks on AI risks set to begin in Geneva

Web publishers brace for carnage as Google adds AI answers

Wizards just miss No. 1 pick again but land top consolation prize this time

Eighth-inning decision burns the Nats in a 4-2 loss to the Red Sox

The Wizards will pick second in the NBA draft. Here’s whom they could take.

No, Apple, people do not want tech to crush everything in its path 

The urgent air defense lessons of April 16 

Are smartphones destroying childhood? It’s complicated.

Did Obamacare ‘massively’ increase the cost of health care?

RFK Jr.’s ‘history lesson’ on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine flunks the fact test

The Trump-Biden battle over the 2017 tax cut

Rare collection of ancient coins, locked away for 100 years, heads to auction

Why Spain will recognize a Palestinian state

Middle East conflict live updates: Israeli forces advance in Rafah; Health Ministry says Gaza hospital system will collapse in hours

Pete Buttigieg’s view from the middle seat

The case for eating at Italian gas stations

5 big travel lessons from an accomplished conservationist

Why Donald Trump ended up praising Hollywood’s most famous cannibal

Biden seeks to put focus on health care, infrastructure

In photos: The scene in Indonesia after flash floods and cold lava killed at least 44 people

Trump insults N.Y. case prosecutor at Jersey Shore rally

Miss Manners: Should I accept offered seat swaps when I’m flying for free?

Ask Amy: Dad hurt by daughter publicly reconnecting with her biological family

Carolyn Hax: What’s the real cost of going halfsies on a modest engagement ring?

Election 2024 latest news: Primary elections being held in Maryland, Nebraska

Angela Alsobrooks and David Trone are Democratic primary candidates for the US Senate seat in Maryland

Health

Well+Being

Opinions

Higher Education

Education

https://www.washingtonpost.com/coronavirus/

Coronavirus pandemic

LONDON — Last night, tens of millions of Brits in lockdown gathered around their television and laptop screens to watch an <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52176222" target=_blank>address</a> from Queen Elizabeth II. It was only the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52173825" target=_blank>fifth time</a> in her 68 years as monarch that she has delivered such a special address. It was designed to provide reassurance to the nation.

“I want to thank everyone on the NHS [National Health Service] front line, as well as care workers and those carrying out essential roles, who selflessly continue their day-to-day duties outside the home in support of us all,” she said.

Full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic

Minutes later, the country found out that those on the NHS front line were also caring for the prime minister, who had just been admitted to the hospital. Boris Johnson <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52060791" target=_blank>tested positive</a> for <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/coronavirus/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">coronavirus</a> on March 27 and had been in self-isolation since.

So much for the reassurance. The head of state gave a serene address. But the head of government was in the hospital.

While government officials had previously said Johnson’s symptoms were “mild,” they later dropped that word from their statements. [<b>Update:</b> British officials announced on Monday afternoon that the prime minister has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/boris-johnson-under-observation-in-a-london-hospital-for-coronavirus-infection/2020/04/06/bd367094-77e9-11ea-a311-adb1344719a9_story.html" target=_blank>been transferred to intensive care</a>, which intensified concerns about the state of his health.] 

A month ago, Johnson enthusiastically told the press that he had visited a hospital with coronavirus patients and “<a href="https://news.sky.com/video/coronavirus-i-shook-hands-with-everybody-11948548" target=_blank>shook hands with everybody</a>,” though it is likely he contracted the virus later.

Johnson’s admission to the hospital comes at the worst possible moment. Epidemiologists expect that Britain’s outbreak is likely to peak in <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-latest-pandemic-could-peak-in-7-to-10-days-says-top-government-adviser-professor-neil-ferguson-2529914" target=_blank>a week to 10 days</a>. The United Kingdom is currently on a <a href="https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1246903584819761152?s=20" target=_blank>path</a> that mirrors Italy’s horrific death tolls, a harrowing prospect given that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/04/uk/uk-coronavirus-death-toll-intl-gbr/index.html" target=_blank>more than 700 people</a> already died in Britain in a single day. Because the British population is one-fifth the size of the United States, that’s akin to 3,500 Americans dying daily — with more than a week of increases to go before the peak arrives.

The government is now facing harsher criticism after the honeymoon period that saw strong approval ratings for Johnson’s response to the crisis. In late March, <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2020/03/27/covid-19-support-government-reaction-swells" target="_blank">72 percent of Brits</a> said the prime minister was doing either “well” or “very well” in handling the crisis. But now the government is under increased scrutiny as bodies mount, ventilator shortages loom and health-care workers are reporting shortages of personal protective equipment. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/apr/03/coronavirus-testing-in-uk-timeline-of-ministers-mixed-messages" target="_blank">Testing targets</a> have repeatedly been missed. Messaging to the public has been confusing.

Still, even with a hospitalized prime minister and several sick senior government officials, the British government’s response has been far better than President Trump’s callous and narcissistic incompetence. British policy has been <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/24/boris-johnson-takes-strong-stand-covid-19-parts-ways-with-trump/" target="_blank">significantly more coordinated and decisive</a> than Trump’s systematic downplaying of the threat and his clownish self-aggrandizing reality-TV-style news conferences. (And yes, it’s a low bar to clear.)

Nonetheless, the spread of the coronavirus through Westminster shows how the pandemic can sap a government at exactly the moment when energetic leadership is required. In addition to the prime minister, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/27/uk-prime-minister-boris-johnson-tests-positive-for-coronavirus" target="_blank">Health Secretary Matt Hancock tested positive</a> for the coronavirus. (He has now returned to work.) The chief medical officer who is advising the government’s response, Chris Whitty, was forced into self-isolation after developing symptoms. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/30/coronavirus-uk-spread-shows-early-signs-of-slowing-key-adviser" target="_blank">Neil Ferguson</a>, the author of the <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/196234/covid-19-imperial-researchers-model-likely-impact/" target="_blank">epidemiological modeling</a> that prompted Johnson to institute a nationwide lockdown, has tested positive for the virus. And Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s controversial, Rasputin-like adviser, is in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/mar/30/dominic-cummings-self-isolates-after-experiencing-coronavirus-symptoms" target="_blank">self-isolation</a> after developing coronavirus-like symptoms.

The scale of the national emergency transcends politics. Partisanship doesn’t disappear — and rightly so — but everyone is rooting for the leader to do what is right and necessary to save lives. In a country that has been as divided as ever over Brexit, everyone now wants the same thing: to reduce the number of people who die preventable deaths from the coronavirus. To accomplish that goal, Britain needs a leader — a healthy leader — to rise to the challenge. It’s Johnson’s chance to be Churchillian.

But, as with Churchill, there are now whispers that Downing Street isn’t being fully transparent. In 1953, Churchill <a href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/11/28/140146462.html?pageNumber=36" target=_blank>suffered a stroke</a>, a secret that was hidden from the public even though he was the sitting prime minister. He served for two more years before anyone found out.

Transparency in the coming hours and days is crucial. Brits will understand and accept a temporary transfer of power if it is necessary. They will not accept being lied to or deceived during the country’s most deadly period in modern history. If Johnson is unable to fulfill his duties, his powers can <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/05/who-runs-the-country-boris-johnson-coronavirus" target=_blank>temporarily pass</a> to Dominic Raab, the first secretary of state and foreign secretary. So far, that decision has not been made, and Downing Street insists that Johnson is working from his hospital bed. But if Johnson’s condition worsens, power should be transferred.

And in the meantime, all we can do is hope for Johnson to make a speedy recovery, as a jittery nation confined at home heeds the <a href="https://www.royal.uk/queens-broadcast-uk-and-commonwealth" target=_blank>queen’s words</a>:

“We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return: We will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.”

<a href="https://hosted-washpost.submissionplatform.com/sub/hosted/5e6a41e2f32ca20034c25f1d"><i>The Opinions section is looking for stories of how the coronavirus has affected people of all walks of life. Write to us.</i></a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/06/with-britain-crisis-queen-elizabeth-breaks-her-usual-silence/" target=_blank>Autumn Brewington: The Queen gives a stirring tutorial in leadership</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/11/what-queen-elizabeth-might-say-if-she-were-free-speak-her-mind/?tid=lk_inline_manual_28&itid=lk_inline_manual_28">Henry Olsen: What Queen Elizabeth might say if she were free to speak her mind</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/24/i-survived-solitary-confinement-you-can-survive-self-isolating/?arc404=true">Jason Rezaian: I survived solitary confinement. You can survive self-isolating.</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/24/what-my-family-learned-after-year-social-distancing/">Daniel Sallick: What my family learned after a year of social distancing</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/24/day-life-new-york-emergency-room-doctor/">Craig Spencer</a><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/24/day-life-new-york-emergency-room-doctor/">: </a><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/24/day-life-new-york-emergency-room-doctor/">A day in the life of a New York emergency room doctor</a>

Brian Klaas is an associate professor of global politics at University College London and the host of the award-winning Power Corrupts podcast. He is the author of "Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us." His past books include "How to Rig an Election," "The Despot's Apprentice" and "The Despot's Accomplice."

Brian Klaas

washpost

the-washington-post

BRITAIN-POLITICS-HEALTH-VIRUS-JOHNSON

Contributor

10 Downing Street/Afp Via Getty 

Getty

U.S. cases and deaths by state

World map

New CDC guidance

When am I still contagious?

The people who never get covid

Coronavirus

iptc-media/health/healthcare_policy/government_health_care

iptc-media/health/diseases_and_conditions/communicable_disease/epidemic

iptc-media/science_and_technology

iptc-media/health/diseases_and_conditions/illness

iptc-media/health

iptc-media/health/diseases_and_conditions/communicable_disease/virus_disease

iptc-media/politics

iptc-media/politics/political_process

iptc-media/health/health_treatment

iptc-media/health/diseases_and_conditions/communicable_disease

iptc-media/health/diseases_and_conditions

iptc-media/politics/government

iptc-media/health/healthcare_policy

client-blocklists/Client List: Morgan Stanley KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Amazon KWs - EXCLUDE ALL 

client-blocklists/Client List: Becton Dickinson KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/CLIENT LIST: Nomura KWs 2021 - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Boeing KWs 2021- INCLUDE ANY

client-blocklists/Bed Bath & Beyond KWs - INCLUDE ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Exxon Mobil  - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/GEICO KWs - INCLUDES ANY_4.26.21

client-blocklists/Client List: T. Rowe Price KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Microsoft KWs 2 - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/T. Rowe Price KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/HBO KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Ford/Lincoln KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/ExxonMobil 03312021 KWs - INCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Bank of America KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

advertising/Flu, Sickness & Virus Content

client-blocklists/WaPo: Combined Disaster Keyword List - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/Coronavirus Content

client-blocklists/Client List: Optum KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Navy Federal Credit Union NFCU KWs 2 - EXCLUDES ALL - 12.23.20

client-blocklists/Client List: Eli Lily KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Purina KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/Client Keywords: On Running

client-blocklists/BP KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Positive News_legacyaux_hlt

advertising/B2_Technology and Cyber Security 3.16.15_legacyaux_3jl

client-blocklists/Client List: GEICO KWs

client-blocklists/Client List: KPMG KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Navy Federal Credit Union NFCU KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Novo Nordisk KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Siemens KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Cisco KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: AT&T ALT KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Mercedes KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/FX Excludes All Disney

client-blocklists/Client List: Inpixon KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Boeing KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Google KWs - INCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: AT&T KWs 2021 - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Philip Morris KWs - INCLUDES ANY 

client-blocklists/Capital One KWs 2 - INCLUDES ANY - 1.4.21

client-blocklists/Bank of America Merrill Lynch KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Google PG KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Office Depot KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Chase KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: ETrade KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

prism://prism.query/global-opinions-english-only&limit=20

Global Opinions

The Washington Post's Global Opinions section.

Sign up for the Prompt 2024 newsletter for opinions on the biggest questions in politics

Washington Post Opinions

The Washington Post Opinions section features opinion articles, op-eds, editorials by the Editorial Board, global opinions and letters to the editor on the issues of the day. Offerings include columns by Washington Post opinion writers, political cartoons by editorial cartoonists Ann Telnaes and Michael de Adder and podcasts by Jonathan Capehart.

prism://prism.query/tag,magnet-coronavirus&limit=20

News and updates about the coronavirus pandemic: Cases in the US, death toll, what you need to know about the virus, how to prepare, how to get tested.

Sign up for Prompt 2024 to get opinions on the biggest questions about the 2024 election cycle