Coronavirus: Bernie Sanders in 2005 explains why drug firms should not make a profit from a pandemic

A discouraging and completely unwelcome element of the coronavirus outbreak has been big companies continuing to profit from the pandemonium.

In the UK, non-essential outlets have been ordered to stay open but that ambiguity has encouraged some high street shops to stay open, such as Sports Direct, which has been accused of bumping their prices up.

Even the likes of Kim Kardashian has been reprimanded for promoting her clothing brand and vowing to donate 20 per cent of the profits to a relief fund in Los Angeles.

Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has clearly seen the risks here for some time. Here he is talking in November 2005 about how pharmaceutical and drug firms should not be making extra money in the middle of a global crisis.

This now seems more appropriate than ever. Especially as the United States now has more than 44,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus that have resulted in more than 500 deaths.