Mistakenly, I thought I wouldn't be blogging about the Coronavirus crisis. After all, I thought, so much is said on a daily basis that comment from this blog would be superfluous. Well, I got that wrong. Looking on Facebook today, I read of an article in the Nursing Times which can be read in full HERE. The headline:
"Nurses on coronavirus frontline facing ‘abhorrent’ abuse from public"
shocked me deeply, arousing feelings of anger, shame and outright despair. Ruth May, the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO), said on TV:
“I’ve seen all over Twitter some of our nurses and midwives and care staff being spat at and being abused by members of the public."
Predictably, there is a nasty racist component to all this abuse. A Filipina nurse, Reizel Quiachon, told of how she had been assaulted and racially abused.
“A man elbowed my rib, intentionally pushing me to the side, the female partner then shouted racial abuse. Doctors, nurses and healthcare workers are literally risking their lives on the frontline with limited resources and yet some people feel the need to impose more hatred and fear."
This disgusting attack, which shames us all, points out yet again that we have an unreconstructed racist element in our society that manifested itself as part of the Leave campaign during and after the EU referendum. I have talked of this before, but the beast is roaring again. The people who carry out this abuse and violence are taking their lead from their hero, Nigel Farage, who in turn has taken the lead from his idol, Donald Trump. Farage said, on Twitter:
"It really is about time we all said it. China caused this nightmare. Period."
There is a direct link from this outburst by Farage to the abuse of Reizel Quiachon. The morons who abused Reizel would be unable to distinguish between a Filipina and a Chinese girl - although that would not make their actions any less despicable. This incident is only one of a number of racist incidents against people from the Far East living in the UK. Channel 4 has reported this, and there is a rise in such attacks in the USA.
As for our old pal, Nigel, he has been described as a "hateful, repulsive racist". He will undoubtedly deny it, but will do sweet nothing to condemn or oppose the rise in hate crime. Of course not. Mr Farage knows that would alienate his racist admirers.
As for the abuse of nursing staff and doctors, words fail me. These selfless men and women are working long and hard to combat this 2!st century plague, and deserve our thanks, our praise and support. Mr Farage and his racist followers - an important section of the Leave campaign - make me feel deeply ashamed to be British. Compare the way nurses are being treated here to the way they are being praised and honoured in Europe. In Spain, Italy, Switzerland and even Turkey, they are applauded from balconies.
Well, it's up to the rest of us to condemn these vile attacks upon the brave men and women who have come to this country to care for us when we are sick. They deserve the highest praise that we can give them - and that applies to all NHS staff, wherever they come from. I hope this final image speaks for all of us who contribute to, or read, Rhymes and Routes.
Further proof, not that we needed it, that rank and file racists are stupid. However, that fact is no consolation to anyone who is being subjected to abuse.
ReplyDeleteI say 'rank and file racists' because racist leaders such as Farage know exactly what they're doing and don't care who gets hurt as they pursue their own sinister agenda.
Instead of getting into a panic over toilet rolls and pasta, ordinary people should be standing up for our health workers and ancillary staff. After all, in the present situation none of us can be certain we won't be needing them soon. Idiots in particular have to understand that abusing people of Far Eastern heritage provides zero protection against coronavirus.