One of the high-profile figures who gained global attention after testing positive for the new coronavirus was British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Having been close to death at one point, he posted a video message when he was discharged from the hospital.
"I hope they wouldn't mind if I mention in particular two nurses who stood by my bedside for 48 hours when things could have gone either way. They are Jenny from New Zealand, Invercargill on the South Island to be exact, and Luis from Portugal, near Porto," he said in the message, showing his especial appreciation to them.
Johnson put national interests before international cooperation as a part of Europe, leading the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. However, this event exposed Britain's current reality on the medical front, where people who hail from outside the country are fighting the virus.
According to the U.K.'s National Health Service (NHS), as of the end of 2019, 13.2% of medical workers, including doctors and nurses, at core hospitals that accept coronavirus carriers are from foreign countries.
The coronavirus has spread all over Europe, to Italy, Spain, France and Britain, killing more than 116,000 people in Europe, according to the World Health Organization's tally as of Friday.
Following the historic turning point of Brexit, the EU's solidarity has been tested amid the simultaneous spread of this virus. Despite the EU laying a foundation for the free movement of people and goods, some member countries have stopped the export of medical supplies such as protective masks or closed their borders.
However, these steps are exceptional measures for emergencies. Each country faced a crisis where peacetime practices did not work. In the midst of a dilemma between EU ideology and domestic antivirus measures, leaders were forced to make a last-ditch decision and prioritized domestic measures risking criticism. It was a temporary loss of balance between cooperation and national interests within the EU and within its member states. However, this condition doesn't mean the EU's philosophy was left behind.
"There are no borders in medical science, but there are borders in medical treatment." I learned this from a friend who engages in a job to spread Japan's excellent medical services and diagnostic imaging techniques overseas, including to Russia. The friend continued, "That's why international cooperation in medical treatment is meaningful."
The world has witnessed the destructive power of a virus we're unable to see that can change people's lives so easily, while also destroying social stability and prosperity.
As well as medical research such as the development of vaccines and therapeutic drugs, one of the lessons that can be drawn from this pandemic is to deepen medical cooperation by building up stockpiles of medical supplies and, if necessary, conducting cross-border transfers of materials.
In addition to economic integration and common foreign and security policies, the EU now faces the urgent task of preparing for epidemics. Some people have pointed out that the EU's limits have been exposed, but each member country will recognize the necessity to support each other even more than before in order to build a cooperative framework that can withstand the crisis.
Britain is a part of Europe, and there are many areas in which cooperation with the EU is in its national interest. Johnson waves the anti-EU flag, but there are no anti-EU or pro-EU sides in the fight against viruses.
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