Are pubs behind the spike in Covid cases?

AFTER urging us all to go out for a half-price meal in August, we are now told this could be behind the spike in infections. The Government has made a mess of dealing with the pandemic, changing the rules so often that we don’t know from one day to the next what we are supposed to do.

CHRISTINE GARDINER, Bristol. WHAT will altering the pub curfew from 10pm to 11pm do? We will still have the problem of people piling out of all the pubs and bars at the same time, except they will have drunk an hour’s extra alcohol. Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham suggested stopping offlicence sales of alcohol after 9pm. This might encourage drinkers to leave pubs early and end queues at late-night supermarkets. The economy gets the income and revellers are taken off the streets. BOB MACDONALD GRUTE,

Newquay, Cornwall. THERE has been criticism of the compulsory closure of pubs at 10pm causing drinkers to flood onto the streets and public transport. Can anyone explain why 11pm, midnight or 9pm would be any better? Will people vanish off the streets at these times? How many Covid deaths are worth keeping boozers happy?

CHARLES MURRAY, Higham, Kent. FIGURES by my local council show high coronavirus infection rates among communities who don’t go to pubs. Yet politicians are surprised the 10pm pub curfew has had little effect. Why do they think closing pubs will improve it?

DAVID NEEDHAM, Oldham, Lancs. THOUSANDS of students in Newcastle have tested positive for Covid, but there seems to be a determination to keep educational establishments open. However, some pubs in the city are closing, even though only a handful of cases have been linked to their customers.

DAVID TATE, Guisborough, N. Yorks. WHY not cancel school half-term instead of the draconian lockdown on pubs and restaurants? This could make up for some of the education children have missed since March.

PAUL THOMAS, Halifax, W. Yorks.