Shut Down the Island

Posted on 07. Jul, 2009 by Jacques Rene Zammit in Featured, Politics

The Viral Effect of Panic

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The swine flu virus has hit the island and the daily reports of new cases have led the quickfire comment crowd to increase the signs of alarum. The latest cases were reported at a village festa in the tiny Gozitan village of Gharb. The general cannons and guns are now pointed on the Isle of MTV music festival or whatever that is being held sometime this week. Big acts like the Black Eyed Peas are expected to entertain thousands for free but some naysayers are calling for a cancellation of the event.

Here is one of the online comments (Warning: Humble Opinion Advisory):

So a simple village feast caused 3 infections as far as we know. What about the Isle of MTV? @Roy C I agree that life must go on, but precautions need to be taken. In my opinion the Isle of MTV is going to be one of the main causes of a major spread. This is only my humble opinion and I am not attending that one for surely. If you agree with me then do not go, if you do not then go.

There you go. This comes hot on the heels of the Roman Catholic Church ordering communion by hand (not in the mouth) – for once the church had in mind the earthly measures for the prevention of the spread of disease and influenza (well, so long as its not a rubber johnny). Some thought that this would not be enough:

[T]his goes to follow.Churches are crowded places too ,and moreover it is an enclosed space. People should be told to refrain from attending Mass . Communion by hand is not enough (D.Vella)

Yep. Refrain from attending. Funny how people do not refrain from typing before processing their thoughts. No wonder sometimes you have to bring in comment moderation. The alarmist crowd should think of what went on at the annual Glastonbury Festival in the UK. 177,000 revellers and three (3) swine flu cases.

Festival spokesman Christo Hird said: “Three unconnected people were taken off-site, straight to an isolation unit on the advice of the doctor and have now gone home.” He added: “They presented with symptoms. All medical staff have been fully brief. The view of the chief medical officer is that they had this before turning up. “This was anticipated. There is no more risk here than anywhere. The figure of three in 177,000 people is regarded as very low.”No other revellers had presented with symptoms, he said. A medical team of 600 is on hand to deal with medical emergencies. (The Scotsman)

I’d be happier if we would be calling for proper medical and security stand-by staff at the Isle of MTV rather than having the usual crowd of fatwa yielding plonkers.

Tags: glastonbury, gozo, Malta, mtv, Swine Flu