Editorials

The Irish Times view on the coronavirus crisis: looking out for the vulnerable

As family, as a community, as good neighbours we need to facilitate those who would be well-advised to or are fearful of leaving their homes

A man wearing a face mask on St. Patrick’s Day as public events were cancelled as the number of coronavirus cases grow around the world, in Dublin, on TUuesday. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Reuters

Tue Mar 17 2020 - 18:19

It would seem the message has not been getting through to everyone. Evidence from weekend partying in Temple Bar to the reports of "Covid-19 parties" would seem to suggest that for not a few the idea that young people don't die of coronavirus makes partying a risk-free exercise.

That impression has been fed by a deeply irresponsible message from across the Irish Sea in Britain where, until the health secretary Matt Hancock denied it over the weekend, the impression was being freely given that the government there was promoting the "herd immunity" approach to managing the crisis. The fallacious idea being that if a large majority could be infected with the virus the herd resistance built up could limit the spread of the contagion.

By this logic, catching the virus could almost be a patriotic duty. And the vulnerable, the old and those with damaged immune systems, who would inevitably die as the herd grew, would just be the unfortunate but necessary price of containing the virus.

Preventing coronavirus from spreading to that vulnerable group must start with preventing its spread to those who will act as its transmission mechanism

The partiers are playing Russian roulette, but not with their own lives – with those of family, grandparents and friends who have weakened immune systems. If it is the case that 20 per cent of those infected with coronavirus will require hospitalisation, and a quarter of those are in danger of dying, the central question then becomes how do those 20 per cent become infected. Simply, but it bears restating, through contact with that other 80 per cent who are infected but will suffer relatively little adverse effect.

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Preventing coronavirus from spreading to that vulnerable group must start with preventing its spread to those who will act as its transmission mechanism. That they should see themselves solely as potential victims rather than as agents of infection is deeply complacent and dangerous.

Little acts of kindness can mean a great deal – doing some shopping, a phone call, or simply dropping around to establish contact

That is why many parents are reluctant to press grandparents into service as childminders and have been advised not to organise get-togethers of children off school.

But protecting the most vulnerable is not simply about isolating the old and infirm. As extended family, as a community, as good neighbours we need to facilitate those who would be well-advised to or are fearful of leaving their homes. Little acts of kindness can mean a great deal – doing some shopping, a phone call, or simply dropping around to establish contact, while maintaining appropriate distance, can all help make life liveable and ease the burdens of isolation and loneliness.

Fighting the spread of this virus, we have been told by the Government, will be an effort of the entire community, of each and every one of us. But that effort will not be just about safeguarding ourselves, washing our hands and retreating into the family, but must also mean reaching out to those who can’t as easily help themselves.

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