Then it was the children, forced to miss school as the country bunkered down, and the high-schoolers, wondering how they would fare by year's end, having missed months of the curriculum.

Now, it's the foolhardy young people who just don't want to stop socialising.

The unthinking young folk who are still flocking to bars, pubs and nightclubs, or thrown house parties without a thought for the rest of the community.

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But is this fair?

Is it really only young people who are flouting the rules at this time?

And are there even clear rules to begin with?

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian last week urged young people to cut back on socialising after a man in his 20s visited seven venues the previous weekend while infectious with COVID-19, triggering a potential outbreak in inner Sydney.

The source of his infection is unknown, which means he could well have caught the virus from someone of an entirely different generation or background.

But it's the young who are being demonised as easy targets, as the country's leaders scramble to convince people to stay home and think of others.

It's not surprising that it's those without families or secure work who may be driven to socialise, but they can't be the only ones.

In the meantime, many restaurants and bars have been allowed to reopen as the country begins the cautious crawl back to a sense of normality.

Beside this, there is an implication that we can help this process by patronising venues and spending money where possible.

The crowds at these places often vary in terms of age and demographic. It's not only young people who are craving company and human contact.

So why mention them specifically?

To date, there has been no meaningful evidence that young people - those aged between 18 and 30, say, are flouting the rules any more than other age groups.

And yet young people are undoubtedly bearing the economic burden of this crisis.

They have been the most likely to work within what has become known as the gig economy - an insecure work environment at the best of times.

It is now, in the worst of times, young people who are facing unemployment, as well as the most disruption to their immediate future through interrupted studies.

Students and the under-employed, no matter what their age, will be living closest to the poverty line, in insecure accommodation and with uncertain futures.

They are already dealing with thwarted dreams and curtailed potential, due to a shrinking and changing job market, and a changing university sector.

Knowing this, as an incontrovertible fact, should be enough to warn the rest of us off reflexively blaming them for any and all antisocial or careless behaviour during the pandemic.

By all means, our leaders should be cracking down on those who are repeatedly doing the wrong thing (if not actually breaking the law) and putting scores of others in danger.

But instead of instinctively blaming the younger generation, those of us in a better position in these trying times need to try harder to support those who are facing a daunting and difficult few years ahead as they start trying to build careers, families and futures from the eventual ashes of this crisis.