Editorial: Deterrence

The government and the scientific community have been constantly repeating that for public health measures to deal with the COVID-19 epidemic to work and for the burden on the National Health System to be reduced, we must all follow the rules faithfully.

The only way to deter a disaster from the second wave of the virus is to get a vaccine and religiously comply with restrictive measures..

The only way to deter a disaster from the second wave of the virus is to get a vaccine and religiously comply with restrictive measures.

This is not only due to personal responsibility which the opposition – in the context of a sterile political skirmish – accuses the government of invoking in order to shirk its own responsibilities.

It is because the experience of the first wave of the pandemic proved that citizens themselves possess the strongest weapon to confront the pandemic.

If the lockdowns taught us one thing it is that we have the power to transcend our national shortcomings although we recognise that we find it difficult to comply with the state’s strict guidelines.

Last spring the self-discipline of the Greek people was the reason that the country managed to successfully manage the first wave of the pandemic.

Consequently, the degree of public discipline now will determine the outcome of the pandemic’s second wave.

By following the rules we save the lives of our fellow citizens and we contribute to saving the national economy.

Whether the current lockdown ends on 30 November as planned or not depends largely on us because, to paraphrase a slogan of the recent US presidential election, every citizen counts.