Festive cheer leaves us on brink of disaster

USUALLY our festive excesses result in a cute, almost loveable, pot belly, an empty bank account, and a collective vow never to drink again. This year the cost is much higher. This year the decision to ‘give us Christmas’ has led to record rates of Covid-19, left our hospitals in crisis, and potentially delayed the roll-out of the vaccine to those who most desperately need it.

Not bad for a few weeks of freedom. To be fair, I was one of those who welcomed the easing of restrictions on December 5. I weighed up the economic benefits, the boost it would give us on an emotional level, and argued it was worth the risk.

Even an increase in cases in the middle of the month couldn’t dissuade me, and when the shutters were unexpectedly brought down before the month was out I, like many, sighed in exasperation and wondered why they couldn’t just give us the last few days.

Now I know why. NPHET saw the approaching tsunami, it realised how bad things were about to get. Imagine if those restrictions hadn’t been imposed on Christmas Eve, if the pubs and restaurants had been open between then and New Year’s Eve, how many cases would we be reporting now?

However, as has been said time and time again, pubs and restaurants are not to blame for the increase in cases. The same goes for the non-essential retailers. Even the thronged thoroughfares, crowded high streets, aren’t to blame for this spike in figures.

As has been the case from the outset, it’s the private gatherings, the parties, the mixing of households, which have caused the numbers to rise. The easing of restrictions allowed those eager for respite to enjoy responsible nights out in controlled environments, it also gave others an invitation to do as they pleased.

It’s all about perception, and, as far as the general public were concerned, the move to Level 3 meant all bets were off. This, combined with the imminent arrival of several vaccines, saw us throw off the shackles and forget ourselves momentarily.

I travelled home for Christmas and I was glad to do so - the alternative was spending the day on my own in an apartment which I already spend far too much time in. During my four days at home I visited three households and saw six people. In each case I was the only person entering their pods.

Some risks were taken but all were calculated.

I don’t know how everyone else celebrated Christmas, but it would appear far greater risks were taken across the country; that some houses welcomed multiple people from other counties, countries and continents, that they spread festive cheer, and the virus, over several days of bonhomie and felicitations.

Only they will know if it was worth it. As has been the case since the outset, the blame-game is in full flow, accusatory fingers are being jabbed this way and that, a new fall guy elected every day.

But it’s pointless looking back, instead let us learn from our mistakes and ensure these frightening daily figures are the peak, that this is as bad as it gets. Let’s start by making this lockdown a real lockdown, let’s go full George Orwell and bring in a curfew. We might as well at this stage. The checkpoints and the 5km radius will only ever work to a degree, there will always be a way to finagling around them, because we’re good at that.

The Gardaí have been asked to curtail the spread of this virus but haven’t been given sufficient powers to do so. If we’re setting up checkpoints then they must come with zero-tolerance policing, otherwise there’s no point in them being there.

Furthermore, and I hate to single out young people, but if groups of youngsters are congregating in public places then they must be politely told to return home post-haste. I’d even go as far to say that the Gardaí should be given the powers to make routine house calls, to knock on doors of an evening, a thankless task perhaps but a necessary one in the current climate. And then there’s the schools. Shut them down. I know teachers and parents dread the return of online learning, and students are preparing for exams, but there can be no outliers this time around, not with so much on the line.