Editorial Ta Nea: Choices

What is the price of a streamer? Just a few euros are enough to fill a public square.

That’s all it cost in the city of Xanthi to hold a carnival, with the acquiescence of the municipality, which was banned by COVID-19 public health restrictions.

Carnival parties, more or less concealed, in the midst of a pandemic were an inexpensive way to relax, but at the same time were extremely irresponsible.

Clearly, both the economy and the psychology of citizens lack great endurance.

Nonetheless, that realisation is a far cry from consciously violating the strictures that were adopted in order to protect everyone’s health, especially that of vulnerable social groups.

Coronaparties are not the cure for fatigue. Instead, they aggravate it.

They have the exactly opposite result. They ineluctably trigger new, harsher restrictions because otherwise hospitals, especially those in Attica, will not be able to survive the pressure.

The spate of coronaparties did not come out of the blue. Over the three-day holiday last weekend, around 30 protests were conducted – in an organised fashion – with full knowledge of the repercussions of any large public gathering held without the proper use of masks and social distancing.

The slogan that “democracy cannot be quarantined” has been adopted even by the main opposition party.

However, for one to be an active citizen one must be alive as that is the only way for one to be able to demand one’s rights.

The quarantine was not imposed because someone sought to violate the democratic process but rather in order to ensure the survival of the National Health System, which has reached its limits right now.

The numbers are staggering. Over 7,000 people in Greece have died and over 500 COVID-19 patients are intubated.

In the coming days we shall learn exactly how much the streamers really cost.