Couple cough on Health Minister Simon Harris
HEALTH Minister Simon Harris has sharply criticised people who are deliberately coughing or spitting at others during the Covid-19 crisis, revealing that it happened to him last week.
Mr Harris said that a man and a woman approached him as he was walking from Government Buildings to the Department of Health on Baggot Street on Tuesday, March 24, and ‘ thought it was hilariously funny to come up and cough loudly and run off laughing’.
Mr Harris said there was ‘absolutely nothing funny about it, it was quite pathetic’ as he issued a strong rebuke to those engaging in such practices at a press conference in Government Buildings on Wednesday and warned that the full rigours of the law will be used against those engage in such practices.
Gardaí are becoming increasingly concerned about the so-called ‘ TikTok coronavirus challenge’, in which people deliberately cough or spit at others, telling them they are infected before posting a video on social media.
‘Can we please as people just look at what’s happening in Italy, in the European Union, where we’re seeing several hundred people a day dying of a virus that can be deadly to certain people in our population,’ said Mr Harris.
‘I think particularly for older people who are being targeted in relation to this, and it seems to be some sort of social media kind of game - but it’s not a game, it’s disgusting - going on that would target certain people in your community, generally older people and go up and cough in their face, video it, have a laugh and run off.
‘Just think of it with your own granny, grandad, mother, father, and your own friends with an underlying health condition like cystic fibrosis.
‘ The Irish people have been absolutely amazing in relation to this national challenge that we’re all going through, but anything that takes off in relation to that on social media will have to be dealt with the full rigours of all of the powers that the State has.’