Social distancing ignored by many

WE HAD hoped that people generally would be more responsible about social distancing and, in fairness, the majority are conscious of it. But, there is a minority of people who do not seem to care enough for the rest of the population to make any real effort to practise social distancing, as recommended by the National Public Health Emergency Team, who are rightly worried about the consequences of not doing so.

Reports of house parties involving large groups of young people are worrying and we have had a scenario in West Cork where the activities of a number of local GAA clubs were shut down temporarily because some of their players had attended a party and came in contact with someone who had contracted the Covid-19 virus. Young people who think they are invincible, and who feel the virus cannot do them much harm even if they contract it, would be well advised to think again because even the experts don’t know what longer-term health implications it will have.

We have observed a lot of holidaymakers not practising social distancing in popular tourist spots locally and they are endangering the communities they are visiting. One wonders if they would behave the same on their own home patch?

Local tourism providers are doing their utmost to implement all the public health recommendations, but are dependent on the co-operation of all to make them work. Those who think Covid-19 is past tense are deluding themselves; the virus has not gone away, so start acting responsibly.