On early Sunday morning at 1:00AM Acton UP noticed a group of approximately 6 teenagers at a park in Acton, sitting and huddling around a bench. Noticing they were violating social distancing orders, Acton UP decided to get an interview, from six feet (two meters) away of course. With a promise of anonymity, 2 of the teenagers decided to talk with us so we could find out their reasons for clearly defying government measures being set in place to “flatten the curve of COVID-19”. The teenagers ranging from ages 15-19 (accepting ages at face value) decided to get together after dark because that is when less people are out. “I just come around at nighttime cause that is when nobody is around” said one teenager. “I know everybody here, I’ve been quarantined [isolated] before stuff even happened, right so, I know there is still a possibility of getting it. But I know I don’t have it, like, I have been checked and am safe from it. So I feel like, I know people shouldn’t go out, but I feel I shouldn’t have to be stuck inside my house 24/7 until this whole pandemic is over, right? We don’t know when that is going to be. “ When asked if they were afraid of contracting the virus the one teenager replied “ no not at all, I know most of these people, hopefully they have been quarantined [isolated] for like most of it. My family has been quarantined [isolated] for even before it happened and like, I don’t go anywhere, but like with close friends I know. I don’t talk to strangers, I’m safe when I go to public places, like grocery stores and all that, but other than that, I don’t really care.” Both of the teenagers did mention that the older members of their households were aware they were out and with friends. “My parents know” said the one teenager, while the other said he “didn’t live with his parents, but at his girlfriend's house and her parents know”. The girlfriend was another teenager amongst the group. When asking the other teenager if he was worried about the virus he responded “kinda yeah” and explained about his “Nana, cause she has cancer and lung problems”. While he did express worry he attempted to justify his actions by saying “I hang around with people I know”. While knowingly violating the social distancing orders the teenagers expressed no intention in stopping. “I feel we should be able to have freedom and have fun, with a closed close group.” At the time of writing this article, ages 0-19 is the smallest group of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Halton Region, with just 11 confirmed cases. There has (so far) been 0 deaths in Halton in this age range along with the 20-39 age range. In contrast, the 80+ age range has seen the largest amount of deaths (15), followed by the ages 40-59 (4), and 60-79 (2). The largest amount of confirmed cases (159) is the 40-59 age range.
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