This is neither Parlee nor Aboiteau beach. The country is not NB, Canada (the water would be a little bit colder ?). This is Lebanon and these are swimmers who likely enjoy fresh water, like Bambi.
Careless people (so-called “covidiots” nowadays by many) may be religious over-zealous or… just selfish swimmers.
A neighbouring country to Lebanon (Bambi will name Israel) conducted an informative study (report published yesterday) on the ways of transmission of the coronavirus. It seems that places of worships were found to be the top places for the spreading of the virus there, with infections in prayer houses accounting for about a quarter of known cases, not brought in from abroad, or contracted in the community. They have since shuttered synagogues.
Of note, hotels were next (15% of the total), followed by restaurants (accounting for 12% of total cases), supermarkets (7%), various other stores (7%), and religious schools (5%).
The above interesting data makes Bambi think of the following: If swimmers in the beautiful Mediterranean sea deserve to be called “covidiots” and fined, how do we call Mr. Trump then for having declared today that by April 13 (Easter), the pandemic would be over in his country and people will be packing churches to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus!?
Does the word “politidiots” or, more sadly, “politi-deniers” exist when such mistakes, if listened to by “true covidiots”, can cost lives? Mind you, other leaders also can share a sub-part of this title with Mr. Trump, for their delayed, inefficient, or ideologically-driven response, sometimes hidden behind science to justify delays (e.g. Brazil and… Bambi will refrain from naming anyone domestically).
Anyhow, all the examples above, explicit and hidden, happen to be very large federal countries. Perhaps their mode of operation, in national crises like pandemics, need to be re-visited after this global nightmare would end (whether within a few months, 1-2 years, or… whenever).
This being said, thank Goodness, the places of worships of Lebanon have been much smarter than the American President’s last words. They all closed early on. They did not even wait for the governmental tougher measures. Plus, they cancelled their Easter ceremonies, turning them online. This has never ever happened, even during the 15 years of civil war.
As Lebanon’s PM said today, “social isolation is our first line of defence” and as Mr. Legault said today “When we protect ourselves, we protect others”.
We have no excuse but to be “coviwise”, if Bambi may say it that way!
