Wheathampstead Magazine

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It really is a complete anathema to me and probably to most of us to hear that there are still some people that believe that Covid 19 is fake news and that the pandemic doesn’t really exist. Perhaps it’s just those people that refuse to wear masks. Could it be that it’s just those people that refuse to follow the government guidance to stay home, protect the NHS and so save lives?

Can you honestly say that you follow the rules? Do you always wear a mask when you need to? that you don’t try to pretend that you are exempt if you’re not? Are you absolutely certain that you have not allowed yourself to become involved in any get-togethers that stretch the rules to suit your own socialising ends, even through you know that you shouldn’t?

We can all go back to clapping on Thursdays to show our gratitude and pride for our hardworking NHS. Clapping is the easy part. Now is the time to focus on being proud of your own actions in this battle against Covid-19.

I know it’s not easy. For the most part we all love to socialise, so being told to stay home when it’s the last thing that we want to do is hard to take. None of us were prepared for this pandemic and the effects it had on all of us.

People that work in the NHS can be rightly proud of the role that they have played and continue to play in looking after the rest of us. Then, of course, there are all the many other workers; police officers, fire fighters, supermarket staff and any number of key workers that are working to keep things together, often putting themselves in danger to support us. Too many of those key workers have caught it and actually died from this horrible disease.

I’ve seen images of nurses in tears and doctors not knowing who to actually treat because of the sheer numbers of patients everywhere... queues of ambulances everywhere and many, many exhausted health care workers. Yet still we hear about people organising house parties or attending raves... going on to spread Covid-19 to elderly relatives that ‘you haven’t seen for ages’.

In theory, we all support the NHS staff and other key workers, but now that support needs to be seen in the behaviours and actions of the general public. By sticking to the rules we can beat this horrendous virus - and ultimately all be proud of the role we played in doing so.

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Eve