Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Virus Diary Week 33
Only in Northern Ireland could a pandemic threatening millions around the world be reduced to sectarian point scoring.
Themuns are getting everything, we’re getting nothing, Environment Minister Edwin Poots claimed last week, though instead of the usual peace money and grants, he was talking about, er, being sick. Cue much righteous outrage, but has anyone checked whether coronavirus cases are higher in so-called Nationalist areas or was the clamour to condemn and the fear of cancel-culture too much for anyone even to wonder?
Just because young earth creationist Poots said it, doesn’t mean it was wrong – though perhaps not the six-to-one ratio that he suggested.
Viruses such as Covid-19 thrive in areas of deprivation, where people live cheek by jowl, crammed into small and poor quality housing, and where far fewer people have the option work from home.
Of course people in such areas have a greater risk of exposure.
Poots was called on to apologise for his comments and perhaps he should – not so much for the content of what he said but rather his motivation. It’s all well and good sitting in a farm amid the green, rolling hills of Co Down, pointing the finger at a lack of social distancing among the huddled masses. But unless you plan to help it smacks of, well, sectarian point scoring and that is a virus that really needs eradicating.
We had our own brief coronavirus scare in leafy, mixed south-east Belfast this week, nothing to do with religion or politics, after one of the youngsters developed a nasty chest infection. He got tested within an hour and the negative result came within 20 hours of him being swabbed. Can’t argue with that – especially as we didn’t have time to figure out which of our neighbours – themuns – might have been to blame...