Johns Hopkins University provides an incredible interactive map detailing the outbreak of the Coronavirus and those nations impacted by the Wuhan Virus. It looks like something out of a zombie apocalypse, where you’d see the protagonist shown a map of where the outbreak was spreading and projections for just how much of humanity would be impacted.
One thing stands out from the map: Russia only has 28 confirmed cases and no deaths. While Europe, Asia and North America are covered by massive red circles showing the scope of the pandemic, Russia remains devoid of those ominous shapes indicating a health crisis.
There have been 4,718 deaths, with 3,172 of those in China.
Why might Russia be spared?
Because the Russian government put the interests of the Russian people ahead of those of other nations. To borrow a phrase from Enoch Powell, they had statesman who guarded “against preventable evils”:
Russia is to close its border with China as a measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to the country’s state media.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said Thursday morning that he had signed an instruction to close the state border in the Far East, Russian news agency TASS reported.
“A corresponding instruction was signed today. Work on it is already in progress. We will inform all those concerned properly about the measures to close the border in the Far Eastern region and other steps the government has taken (to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Russia)” the news agency quoted him as telling a cabinet meeting on Thursday.
Sixteen out of the 25 crossings along the Russian-Chinese border will be closed as of midnight January 31, the decree said, according to the Moscow Times. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday that it had temporarily suspended the issuing of electronic visas to Chinese nationals.
The move by Russia comes as the pneumonia-like virus, first identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of December, continues to spread.
Most of the cases are in China but the virus has also been found in France, Germany, Cambodia, South Korea, Singapore, the U.S., Thailand, Sri Lanka and Japan. The Philippines and India confirmed their first cases on Thursday too.
So far, there have been no reported cases of the virus in Russia. The World Health Organization is to decide later Thursday whether to declare a global health emergency over the outbreak [Russia closes border with China to prevent spread of the coronavirus, by Holly Ellyatt, CNBC.com, January 30, 2020].
While Democrats can’t stop calling President Trump a “racist” or “xenophobic” for his response to the Wuhan Virus, and corporate journalists attack anyone for noticing the pandemic originated in China (confirming they value fighting racism more than protecting American lives), the Russian government has successfully proven the wisdom of Powell’s true message in the “Rivers of Blood” speech.
Statesmanship is about guarding against preventable evils. Russia’s actions to close their border with China early in the crisis prevented the Wuhan Virus/Coronavirus from spreading.
They remind us with this: Quarantines work. Borders work. Restricting migration works. Putting the interests of your countrymen ahead of globalism, works. Leaders who "provide against preventable evils" are what's needed.
