Face masks are logical, sensible way forward
THE death rate from Covid19 to date is 688 per million in the UK, 451 per million in the USA and a mere seven per million in Japan.
The reasons for this disparity are unknown.
In Japan the wearing of face masks as a protection against influenza and other virus-borne illness is a commonplace accepted practice.
Other counties such as South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam and Hong Kong, that have even lower Covid-19 death rates than Japan, have a similar culture.
This is not the case in the UK and in the USA the wearing of face masks has become a political issue; consequently considerably fewer people here and in the USA wear masks compared to Japan.
Our politicians say there is insufficient evidence to make the wearing of face masks compulsory.
A significant amount of scientific knowledge comes from empirical evidence based on observation and testing as opposed to theory.
Surely the above observations bear the seeds of empirical evidence.
Even if our politicians and scientists do not see this as sufficient empirical science, common sense should tell us that wearing face masks is a rational and logical method of slowing down and controlling the spread of this deadly virus-driven pandemic.
Neil Williams
Risca
Timely responses vital in FOI cases
WITH 69 cases not meeting the due date on Freedom of Information Requests by Caerphilly County Borough Council they have now received a request targeting me, one Independent councillor, on requests made.
1. Has it really come to this when I had to wait four months for a response after intervention by the Media and Information Commissioner to receive a response, and of course this FOI would not be politically motivated?
2. Is one Independent councillor seen as that much of a threat with challenging questions? I feel targeted, but shall continue to put the people first.
3. I wrote to a cabinet member on an education issue in April and still no response after three months, so had to submit a further FOI.
4. I wonder if the person who submitted an FOI on my requests will wait 20 days or four months? Perhaps if timely responses were received with effective monitoring procedures in place this could be avoided, but I am only one Independent councillor among 72 others, and I have been previously called ineffective and superfluous. Any advice the minister Julie James could give me would be appreciated, please, on process, procedure and timescale
Cllr Kevin Etheridge Blackwood Ward
Indy vote pales besides others
AFTER the recent marches for Welsh independence Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price forwarded a motion in the Senedd to seek a referendum on self-government.
It predictably failed, which didn’t dull the enthusiasm of the Plaid leader.
He ebulliently pronounced that “we are no longer swimming against the tide, momentum is with us”.
It is understandable that his enthusiasm hasn’t been curbed – his nationalist supporters dominate the commanding heights of the Welsh public sector.
Unfortunately dominance of a national bureaucracy can only get you so far. As Bill Clinton once claimed: “It’s the economy stupid”.
This has been forcefully repeated many times in Wales since the rejection of the M4 Relief Road project.
The Labour vote in December’s general election collapsed as the Red Wall was finally breached in both England and Wales.
Corbyn’s creed was rejected this side of Offa’s Dyke, which provided a great opportunity for a Plaid breakthrough, after years of stagnation, to hoover up the support of disgruntled ex-Labour supporters’ votes.
But the political renegades chose to take the quantum leap to the Tories while Plaid’s votes decreased.
The disproportionately large nationalist-dominated public sector in Wales has crowded out the private sector and we are not seen as an entrepreneurial nation.
We have only one company in the FTSE top 100, Admiral.
In the most recent Sunday Times Rich List Welsh top 20 there are no names that sound remotely like Rhun ap Iorwerth or Llyr Huws Gruffydd.
The much-publicised pursuit of independence is currently favoured by 21% of the population while the almost-unheard-of Abolish the Welsh Parliament stands at 25%, so surely there is a more deserving referendum case for the latter.
Dennis Coughlin
Llandaff
Our politicians say there is insufficient evidence to make the wearing of face masks compulsory Neil Williams Risca
My grandson did his bampy proud
IN April this year we lost a wonderful husband, dad and bampy to this cruel virus, Covid-19.
Our daughter, Cara, a care worker, also had the virus.
We have two grandsons, Ryan and Haryson.
Ryan, who is nearly 18, decided to do a bike ride from Cardiff to Brecon after setting up a GoFundMe Page in memory of his beloved bampy.
He raised more than £500, which will be donated to the NHS.
To say we are proud of Ryan is an understatement, and of his determination to do the bike ride in his bampy’s memory.
He completed his ride on Thursday, July 23, all alone, and camped for a few days before returning home.
Thank you, Ry, you did your bampy proud.
Pauline Durante
The Drope, Cardiff
Johnson just like Winnie the Pooh
WHILST Brendan Jones’ mood is lifted by Boris Johnson’s blind optimism (“Drakeford gives us little to smile about”, Echo Letters, July 25), mine is lifted by reading of no Covid deaths in Wales – a result of Mark Drakeford’s cautious approach.
It’s not by chance that Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have lower death and infection rates per capita than England.
There is no science or planned
reasoning behind his statement that things could be back to normal by Christmas, just wishful thinking.
Perhaps Mr Jones’ mood will be lifted when I tell him that he will win the lottery in the next few weeks.
I have no way of knowing whether he even buys a ticket, but don’t let facts and common sense get in the way of lifting the mood.
If Mr Drakeford is Eyeore, then
Johnson must be Winnie the Pooh, who as we all know is a bear of very little brain.
Alan Rumble Ely, Cardiff