Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has urged people not to jump to blame when it comes to pointing the finger for a rise in Covid-19 cases. Saying that he regrets how blame has crept into the conversation as of late, speaking to RTÉ, Varadkar can be heard saying:
“One thing I would like to say I do kind of regret that in the last couple of weeks we’ve seen the kind of issue of blaming people creep into Covid, which we didn’t have before – whether it’s American tourists or young people or migrant workers or particular businesses.
You can do everything right as an individual and still get this virus. You can do everything right as an employer and still have a cluster in your business.
“We have to be careful not to jump to blaming people.”
"You can do everything right as an individual, absolutely everything right, and still get this virus, and you can do everything right as an employer and still have a cluster in your business." @LeoVaradkar urges people not to jump to blame over #Covid19 | https://t.co/P2qaIYNUL3 pic.twitter.com/QgoU5EMX0H
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) August 10, 2020
His comments come in the wake of Government announcement that a localised “midlands lockdown” has been reimposed on counties Laois, Offaly and Kildare following a spike in numbers – with many cases being attributed to clusters in meat plants in those counties.
Commenting that the best way to protect our society is to “get back to basics”, Varadkar reminded people of the importance of following proper handwashing techniques and adhering to public health advice regarding social distancing.