November 17, 2020 - UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador to Montenegro Antonije Pusic, better known as Rambo Amadeus, reminds us that today in Montenegro, a real example of chivalry and heroism is wearing a mask and keeping a distance from others.
"Whenever we don't want to put on a mask and keep our distance from our interlocutor, we should remind ourselves of chivalry. The noblest trait of all, by which we protect others from ourselves, regardless of whether they are our friends, parents, brothers, relatives, or someone utterly unknown," explains Antonije Pusic.
He points out that the crisis with the coronavirus epidemic has been going on for too long. That is why we are all upset, on edge, and that our psyche is defending itself by not wanting to accept the factual situation. According to Pusic, the longer the epidemic lasts, the less we want to believe in the facts, suppress them, in the hope that the coronavirus and all the story around it will disappear overnight.
"I am also terribly bored with all this, but I am aware that I have to be civilized, if not for myself, then certainly for the dear people around me," says Pusic.
Suppose we feel completely healthy and have no symptoms. In that case, we are often not even aware of being infected. So wearing a mask and keeping our distance protects others from ourselves so that they do not become infected and suffer consequences that can be much more serious than for us," empasizes Antonije Pusic.
"So, when someone does not wear a mask and does not keep his distance, he does not behave heroically. He does not protect himself from others, but also his behavior can never be chivalrous because he does not protect others from himself," concludes Pusic.
According to the latest public opinion poll conducted by Ipsos in October, with UNICEF's support and the British Embassy in Podgorica, most citizens apply one of the #RazmakMaskaRuke measures, but not all three at the same time, as recommended, according to a UNICEF statement.
"The percentage of people who say they wear a mask rose from 25 percent in March to 81 percent in October, while the percentage of people who say they keep a distance of 1-3 meters during a conversation remained the same - 83 percent. However, people who say they apply all the three measures #DistanceMaskHands are still a minority - only 48 percent of people," the announcement states.
Public opinion polls on coronavirus and comparison of data over time are available on the UNICEF Montenegro website.
