No one could have possibly thought of a subject that’s more relevant and timely for Last Week Tonight to tackle than the novel coronavirus outbreak. That’s stating the obvious, but John Oliver was sitting in the unenviable position of summing up an anxiety-ridden response to a virus that’s shutting down borders. He clearly couldn’t have tackled, say, pyramid schemes this week, which has made it a little more challenging for him to deliver his trademark blunt humor. A not insignificant number of people will likely die from this coronavirus, so Oliver needed to dance between discouraging a dangerously alarmist response while also not minimizing the dire nature of the situation.
Throughout, Oliver stayed true to his roots his sharp-witted roots with some lighthearted moments, such as wishing that the world was suffering from Adam Driver (“you f*ckable redwood”) fever instead. Alas, that’s not the case, so Oliver delivered a rundown of the genuinely scary aspects of this virus’ spread. That would include how Iran’s Deputy Health Minister, Iraj Harirchi, appeared to be visibly ill on live television before being confirmed to have contracted the disease. Arguably and as Oliver notes, people may have actually seen the virus transmit in real time while watching this official on TV.
It’s all very bleak stuff, and as expected, Oliver roasts President Trump’s response, but essentially, Oliver (while discussing news reports about people who are allegedly considering drinking bleach) advises people to keep things in perspective:
“If you’re drinking bleach to protect yourself right now, you should probably calm the f*ck down. If you are, say, licking subway poles because you’re certain nothing can hurt you, maybe don’t do that.”
The entire 20-minute deep dive segment is worth watching in full, and as Oliver advises, it’s important to keep some perspective, as difficult as this feels in uncharted terrain, at least in modern times.
