COVID-19 party
 | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (March 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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| You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Dutch. (March 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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A coronavirus party (also called corona party or lock-down party) is a gathering, ostensibly to catch COVID-19, but sometimes just held on the basis that the participants are not worried about the consequences either personally or to the community. The phenomenon has been noted in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom.[2] Such gatherings are explicitly mentioned (and banned) in the Netherlands model safety orders for the pandemic.[3]
Examples
At least one participant at such a party in the U.S. state of Kentucky has tested positive for the virus.[4]
Other events, such as coronavirus-themed gatherings, have also been condemned as unwise.[1]
Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws reported on 15 March 2020, that many people celebrated the last evening before new rules took effect. A large number of 'Corona-parties' were organized last minute.[5]
On 19 March 2020 the police reported that they had ended several Corona-parties in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The participants were aged from 15 years to their mid twenties. Most of them understood their wrongdoing. The youngsters met on schoolyards, at barbeque sites and in parks. The police president asked parents to take responsibility for their children.[6]
According to Austrian broadcaster ORF, four men met on 21 March 2020 in a club house in Heiligenkreuz am Waasen. One of the men turned out to be a member of the state parliament of Styria, Gerhard Hirschmann (Freedom Party of Austria). His and other parties condemned his behaviour, after which Hirschmann stepped down.[7]
On 9 April 2020, 14 students living at a residence hall in Tartu, Estonia held a party. Some of these students were showing symptoms of COVID-19. As of 18 April, 16 students in the residence were confirmed infected. The government decided to lock down all 280 students living in the building with the police ensuring that nobody could leave.[8]
Reactions
German newspaper FAZ commented that some people do not want to stop partying. Some party in spite of the danger of an infection. Others gather just because of this possibility. They believe that after an infection and getting sick they are immune and can go back to their normal lives. Privately organized, so called "Corona-Parties" are the realisation of this plan.[9]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Friends throw 'coronavirus party' with face masks, 'Quarantini' drinks, Pandemic game". Retrieved 2020-03-25.
- ^ "Police chief slams nightclub over coronavirus party post". 2020-03-20.
- ^ Noodverordening van de voorzitter van de veiligheidsregio [...], page 7 (Article 2.1: 'Verboden samenkostem en evenementen) 26 March 2020, accessed 28 March 2002.
- ^ "A group of young adults held a coronavirus party in Kentucky to defy orders to socially distance. Now one of them has coronavirus". Retrieved 2020-03-25.
- ^ Het Laatste Nieuws: “Schaam je!” Belg die corona-ellende van dichtbij meemaakt in Italië, haalt fel uit naar feestvierende Belgen, 15 March 2020, last seen on 28 March 2020
- ^ Badische Neueste Nachrichten: Polizei löst „Corona-Partys“ in Baden-Baden, Bühl und Durmersheim auf, 20 March 2020, last seen on 21 March 2020.
- ^ FPÖ-Abgeordneter feierte „Corona-Party“ orf.at, 20 March 2020, last seen on 21 March 2020.
- ^ Coronavirus cases increase to 16 at Tartu students' halls of residence news.err.ee, 18 April 2020, last seen on 19 April 2020.
- ^ FAZ.net: Feiern bis der Arzt kommt, 19 March 2020, last seen on 22 March 2020.