THE IMAGE was disturbing.
As this country sped past 300 deaths from covid19 this week, a group of workers from the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) huddled together without masks as they worked on a project.
Our front-page image on Wednesday should have disturbed everyone. It was a reminder of the fact that even essential workers - or, more precisely, workers who perform tasks deemed essential - have a duty to comply with the public health regulations. Not only do they pose a danger and endanger themselves if they do not, but they also set a bad example for the rest of the country.
With civilians still being lax - to the extent that some are freely roaming in order to lime and watch TV at their friends' houses - the State should send a strong message that lapses within the ranks of its employees will not be tolerated.
Essential workers face a tough burden. While other workers have been told to work from home, essential workers have been afforded little choice but to report for duty. Some, such as police officers, even have to face the public to go about their jobs.
It is little wonder there has been a serious proposal to widen the compensation paid to the families of police officers who die in the line of duty so as to include those who are victims of covid19.
But while many essential workers are doing yeoman service, that alone is no excuse for the abuse of the few privileges such workers have in the current state of emergency.
Workers providing essential services are among the select class of people who are permitted to move around freely under the emergency regulations. They are allowed to do so pursuant to carrying out their jobs and going to and from home. Such a privilege should not be abused.
The public health regulations - which remain in force alongside the emergency regulations - permit the removal of masks in certain specific circumstances. For example, there may be moments when a mask will risk harming the wearer. But such exceptions must be reasonable in the circumstances.
Masks are also required of workers in 'enclosed public places.' While there is evidence that outdoor spaces are less risky, physical distancing should still apply.
Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales set the correct tone when he lamented that the managers and workers involved in the scene captured by our photographer Angelo Marcelle on Tuesday should have done better. Even Public Services Association president Watson Duke agreed the workers should have been masked.
Perhaps the State still needs to clarify its internal disciplinary policies with regard to this issue. After all, in the pandemic, what is essential should be essential for all.
