To tackle Omicron, we need serious leadership
Well said, Rachel Clarke (Talk of a No 10 Christmas party is an insult to the thousands who have died of Covid, 8 December). Her wholly justifiable anger, based on her frontline experience of caring for her patients, encapsulates, I suspect, the fury and frustrations of many.
Once he has completed his investigations into “partygate”, the cabinet secretary might usefully place a copy of Ms Clarke’s article alongside the agenda for future cabinet meetings, if only to remind participants that government is a serious business with serious consequences, ideally conducted by serious professionals rather than the current bunch of self-serving, irresponsible amateurs.Phil MurrayLinlithgow, West
Lothian
• With the number of the new Omicron cases likely to rise exponentially, and stringent national measures needed, one thing is sure – the rightwing Covid recovery group of Tory MPs will vote against them (Javid advised to take ‘stringent’ Covid measures within a week, leak reveals, 10 December). Their argument will inevitably focus on the impact of such measures as masks in pubs or stricter isolation requirements on the economy, and by voting against the proposals they give yet more encouragement, as if any more was needed after the Downing Street party fiasco, to a UK public keener than ever to disobey.
I have yet to hear a counter argument that details what effect a wave of hospitalisations – up to 10,000 a day – would have on the economy (Report, 10 December). As there is very little data on the severity of disease caused by Omicron, the only sensible approach has to be preventative and cautious. Tory backbenchers might be willing to play politics with the lives of the British people, but making a new strain of a deadly virus a political football is downright despicable.
The sixth richest economy in the world can easily afford to subsidise hospitality venues in trouble, but it cannot afford risking a variant that evades the population’s built-up immunity running rife.Bernie EvansLiverpool
• It’s ironic that just about the only sensible anti-Covid measures our prime minister is contemplating – further controls to combat the spread of the virus – are prompting the biggest rebellion so far among his backbenchers (Report, 9 December). Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.Tom UprichardLondon
• From this week, if my mates and I
want to go and watch our football team we will need a Covid passport and we will need to wear a mask in the ground (Report, 8 December). We will also need to wear a mask if we use public transport to get there – but we can spend several hours in a pub beforehand, mingling and talking without any restrictions. That’s OK then.Allan BrownPeterborough
• We used to go to the cinema about twice a month, but haven’t been now for almost two years. The thought of sitting near an unvaccinated, unmasked person who may have presymptomatic Covid is a continuing deterrent. What damage to the economy are those “freedom” warriors in parliament doing if thousands of people like us won’t spend our money going out and about? We’d love to see the new West Side Story so glowingly reviewed by Peter Bradshaw, and we just might if the cinema asks for vaccine passports and masks now.Sue HumphriesYork
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