One had British Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on nations to pull together in response to the pandemic.
The race to develop a vaccine, he said, was not a competition between countries but the most urgent shared endeavour of our lifetimes.
It’s humanity against the virus. We are in this together and together we will prevail. A fine sentiment indeed.
But on the very same day, there was another story doing the rounds.
It was headlined in the Daily Mail: Iran and Russia launch hacking attacks on British universities in attempt to steal coronavirus vaccine secrets; and in the Guardian: Hostile states trying to steal coronavirus research.
The story detailed cybersecurity experts’ allegations of attacks on British universities and scientific facilities.
It is understood that nations including Iran and Russia are behind the hacking attempts, while experts have said China is also a likely perpetrator.
Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre declared the attacks utterly reprehensible and a University of Oxford spokesperson was quoted saying the university was working closely with the centre to ensure its Covid-19 research had the best possible cybersecurity and protection.
So, while Mr Johnson talked of a world of co-operation, of nations joining hands (figuratively rather than literally) to fight the viral enemy, one of Britain’s most illustrious scientific institutions declared it was fighting off competitors in the race to be first to take a vaccine to market.
Surely, if Mr Johnson was to be taken at his word, Oxford would be co-operating with all-comers; sharing data with the Russians, Chinese, Iranians and New Zealanders.
We are in this together and together we will prevail, said Mr Johnson.
Instead, Britain’s cyberattack experts were talking up the prospect of vaccine-driven political hostility between the haves and the have-nots.
They seemed not to appreciate the hostility would be the result of the actions of Britain’s universities not sharing what they know, and would evaporate instantly if they did.
They did note the attacks had not succeeded, to which the normal response would undoubtedly be: well, that’s a good thing.
But, when the health of the human race is at stake, perhaps the world might be more inclined to side with the hackers.
After all, it is hard to imagine anything more reprehensible than British scientists secreting the results of their work on a virus that threatens everyone.
Perhaps, now the moment of media attention for Mr Johnson’s fine words has passed, he might follow up by having a quiet word in the ear of his university dons, a la: It’s humanity against the virus.
AND ANOTHER THING
Daily, for weeks now, this newspaper has detailed the ruinous impact of a virus that infected the global economy.
Its impact became even clearer in previous days with redundancies at Dunedin Railways, Skyline, Milbrook Resort, Nomad Safaris, The Hermitage and yesterday, 309 jobs lost at Ngai Tahu Tourism.
Queenstown is among the worst affected areas in the country but it is troubling to learn those who want to plan the region’s future do not know how many people there rely on welfare support.
Queenstown Chamber of Commerce chief executive Anna Mickell said data provided by the Government was not specific enough, making it impossible to plan for employment needs, education and assistance.
Such data may be collated regionally but it is gathered in communities. It must be extracted and made available, quickly and consistently, if communities are to help themselves.
