Opinion

Power to prevent Covid-19 'circuit breaks' lies with each of us

THE Stormont executive's introduction of tougher restrictions in Derry and Strabane is an inevitable response to that area's soaring coronavirus rate.

It should also serve as a warning to the rest of Northern Ireland that similar measures may have to be brought in elsewhere unless the upward trend in positive Covid-19 tests is curbed.

The Belfast, Mid-Ulster and Newry, Mourne and Down council areas are giving public health officials particular cause for concern.

The severity of the current situation was emphasised by interventions yesterday from chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride and chief scientific adviser Professor Ian Young.

They raised the prospect that a so-called circuit breaker - generally understood to be a short but intense lockdown - may be needed unless the spread of the virus is brought under control.

Dr McBride said that "we need to plan and prepare" for a circuit breaker at a Northern Ireland level if localised restrictions proved ineffective at slowing transmission rates.

Professor Young echoed this, saying it would be sensible to plan on the basis that a short-term lockdown may be imposed.

But he went further, suggesting that "one or more periods of circuit break" may be needed during the winter.

There are suggestions that a 'mini lockdown' would overlap with the school half-term holiday week at the end of this month.

It would also seem logical for this to coincide with similar measures in the Republic and Britain, as First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill have pointed out.

The possibility of a single short, time-limited lockdown will be, for most people, an appalling vista; the idea that more than one may be imposed during the gloom of winter is an even chillier prospect.

The first, long period of lockdown was enormously challenging - economically, socially, educationally, medically, mentally and in so many other ways - and the possibility that the recovery may be further stalled before it has even properly begun is deeply worrying.

However, as Dr McBride, Professor Young and others have repeatedly said, the power to prevent the worst case scenario from becoming a reality lies with the public.

Regular hand-washing, wearing face coverings, maintaining physical distance and limiting social contacts might be onerous, but they are all within the gift of us as individuals.

A sense of personal responsibility, this weekend and beyond, can make a real difference to the common good.