In English, the term is ‘celebrity’; in Dutch, ‘well-known Dutchman’ (bekende Nederlander, or BNer). I am more interested in what qualifies someone to be classed in that category. The media unofficially christen such people, but it seems to hinge on the number of followers a person has on their Facebook or Instagram accounts.

At least 3 such Dutch celebrities are among those supporting a tag on Instagram which roughly translates as I am not taking part any more, referring to the measures the Dutch government has set out over the last six months to try and combat the corona virus.

The protest questions the point of non-medical face masks – only really in use in public transport in the Netherlands, the 1,5 meter rule, and even how mortal a corona infection really is.

One doctor, in reply, has invited them to come and take a look round his Intensive Care Unit. ‘Staff are moving heaven and earth for patients that do still want to take part!’

These particular celebrities work in the entertainment industry – particularly hard-hit by the rules prohibiting concerts and festivals. I am not aware that any of them are qualified in medicine or the study of infections.

Promoting the abandonment of the only common sense measures we have really makes me angry. Someone else recently in a tv interview compared the present pandemic to the Aids crisis which started nearly 40 years ago. “Were we told not to have sexual intercourse anymore?”, they asked?

Well no, but we were advised not to have unprotected sex with people we didn’t know. A flu-like virus spreads from person to person through close contact. Face masks (non-surgical ones) and distancing do not guarantee no spreading of such a disease, but it cuts the risk down enormously.

Until there is a medical means of protecting ourselves, there are no other commonly accepted measures that work. Scrapping them would leave large numbers of vulnerable people open to infection and hospitals swamped with patients again.

The Dutch love to complain, but I seriously question the motives of so-called celebrities who think they are qualified to incite a revolt based on no medical qualifications whatsoever. Corona is still in its first year of global disruption. A vaccine, when it comes, will have been the fastest ever developed from scratch in the history of mankind. Hopefully it will become available to people all over the world, although how is still to be seen. With luck, within a year and a half of its emergence, corona will be beaten back by medical intervention.

Until then, I will wear a face mask whenever and wherever I am asked to, and will keep on practising social distancing. That includes unnecessary parties and gatherings. I want to keep myself out of the chain that passes on the virus or ends up catching it. However, we all have to do our bit until then.