Opinion

Allison Morris: Apportioning blame is not the way to get everyone through the next phase of this pandemic

<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: sans-serif, Arial, Verdana, &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;; ">The 'don't kill your granny' slogan is unhelpful in so many ways</span>
The 'don't kill your granny' slogan is unhelpful in so many ways The 'don't kill your granny' slogan is unhelpful in so many ways

Where has all the goodwill gone?

Remember at the start of lockdown, when people were looking out for their elderly neighbours, dropping off food parcels?

When GAA clubs and Orange lodges were coming together in rural communities to make sure no one went without?

As the world plunged into a crisis all petty differences were set aside, but it didn't last long.

There were of course hints at the start that not everyone was feeling particularly charitable.

The food hoarding, the curtain twitching, people in parks complaining about people in parks, but they were in the minority.

In my job I see the worst of human nature on a regular basis, but I assure you for every bad person there are 20 good ones out there trying their best to make life easier.

But in the last few weeks you have to wonder, what damage this pandemic has done not just to our health, mental and physical, but to our sense of community?

Despite now knowing so much more than we did in February, as a society we seem to be much worse at dealing with the recent upsurge.

Covid is a virus that spreads through human contact, human contact is almost impossible to avoid.

It is of course possible to avoid crowded spaces, to observe good hygiene and social distancing, but it is not possible to avoid all other people forever.

It has been said a million time but remains true, that until there is a vaccine we must learn to live with Covid-19.

Reduce the risk to the elderly and vulnerable, protect the care homes and hospitals, but society has to keep going, keep functioning.

Children and young people cannot be denied their education again.

The lowest paid are at the greatest risk and now face unemployment in a climate of severe post-coronavirus recession.

It's going to take an almighty effort to regroup, rebuild and create a functioning society that ensures families are not relying on food banks to survive.

The first step on that slow road to recovery should be to stop blaming each other.

The 'don't kill your granny' slogan is unhelpful in so many ways.

It suggests that by the simple act of caring for someone you love, by bringing them food, by giving them company that you're going to kill them.

It could in some cases make those already anxious think they are better staying away completely from their elderly relatives, but for whose benefit?

People who have lived through worse hardships than this, seen things that the rest never will, are being infantilised as if they've no minds of their own.

Has anyone thought to ask what they feel? What they want? Would they rather take decision themselves?

Some may well prefer to have food left on the doorstep and waves and kisses through a window.

But the decision should be theirs and theirs alone, who on earth are we to dictate to people who have been on this earth for three score and ten or more?

My own parents are elderly and in the vulnerable category, but my mother is horrified that her age group are being used to restrict the lives, prospects and future of her children and grandchildren.

The recent rise in cases and hospitalisations is deeply concerning, but not unique to us, the pattern is the same across most European countries, regardless of how much stricter their lockdown was.

People were told by the government to 'Eat out to help out' and then condemned for being in bars and restaurants.

Students were told to fork out university fees and get back to their pricey and often substandard rentals, while the student 'wet bars' they usually frequent remained shut, and then condemned for drinking in their Holyland accommodation.

We were told to have a 'staycation' and spent our money at home and then condemned for travelling to seaside towns.

Sports were allowed to resume but those who celebrated historic wins were also in the firing line, when they crowded onto a pitch.

Incidentally, no different a gathering from the protests and large funerals that took place during lockdown, which incidentally did not cause an increase in cases. Outside transmission is rare, like I said we know so much more now than we did six months ago.

Blaming is not helping, it's also not making people want to comply with the often contradictory guidance and regulations.

People want to hear facts, genuine, informed, scientific reasons for restrictions, and then - just like at the start of lockdown - I believe they will willingly comply.

But by pointing the finger, apportioning blame and encouraging people to spy on their neighbours, we create a divided and unsettled society, unlikely to be willing to keep this going for as long as it takes, be that six weeks or six months.