If this virus puts us on a war footing, come on Britain, don’t let’s be beastly in the supermarket
sir – A friend of mine, trying to find fresh vegetables, went to a large supermarket. The stock was low and the shelves fairly empty, but there were plenty of fresh vegetables. When she got to the till, she smiled and said: “Hello, how are you?”
The cashier replied: “Oh, that’s so nice of you to ask – I try to avoid eye contact with people, as all I get is abuse.”
How sad. If the public cannot decide for themselves to be considerate to others then it is time supermarkets, or the Government, put restrictions on what, and how much, one can buy. It is not the cashier or supermarket workers who are at fault if there is no lavatory paper on the shelves.
Come on, Britain: where is the pioneering spirit and kindness to others that was notable during two world wars? Divided we fall, united we stand.
Crondall, Hampshire
sir – I am elderly and live on my own. So far I have been offered support from two neighbours, two members of my church’s congregation and the postman. The community spirit in this area is excellent.
Strood, Kent
sir – I am 80 years old and have had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for some years.
My wife of nearly 60 years died on February 27. Her funeral has been arranged for March 25 at our local crematorium.
The “wake” after the cremation has been postponed. However, her relatives and many friends she made (as a home carer and member of our local bowls club) have indicated their intention to attend her funeral. The majority of these friends are of my generation.
What are my family and I to do? Stuart L Jennings
Flitwick, Bedfordshire
sir – The elderly especially are going to suffer from loneliness in the next few months. I urge them to get a friend to set them up with Skype, or something similar.
The telephone helps the lonely, but to see the person you are talking to makes a huge difference. My daughter is in New Zealand, but I see and talk with her and the grandchildren every week. The extraordinary thing is that this costs me nothing.
Exeter, Devon
sir – My daughter has arranged a virtual Mother’s Day lunch with all the family (three children, spouses and six grandchildren) via Zoom, which she uses for business meetings. Perfect.
Chittlehampton, Devon
sir – Panic-buying is not the only reason supermarkets are stretched. Millions of British adults have been asked to make a dramatic shift in behaviour, taking them from the workplace to home.
Consequently many millions of meals, snacks, cups of coffee and – yes – ablutions that were previously taking place in cafés, restaurants, pubs and canteens during the working week are now taking place at home. Retailers and their suppliers will cope with this, but we must allow them some time and consideration as they adjust.
Tasburgh, Norfolk
sir – Donations to food banks will suffer in the crisis. Supermarkets could give online shoppers the option of adding an item from a list of mostneeded items as a donation.
Wivenhoe, Essex sir – We are used to “buy one, get one free” offers at supermarkets. The saving is automatically calculated at the till.
Perhaps, in order to reduce panicbuying, supermarkets could make it: “Buy more than two, the price doubles.”
Ravenshead, Nottinghamshire
sir – We, too, arrived back home from travelling on Tuesday with no food in the house (Letters, March 18) and strict instructions from our family not to venture out.
I was told that our local farm shop was now doing home deliveries. I phoned in an order for vegetables, meat and milk and it was delivered within four hours. Wonderful service.
Devizes, Wiltshire
sir – Now is the time to sign up to have your milk delivered. Our local supplier has slots available for this week, and of course they deliver more than just dairy products.
I also suggest everyone invest in a touchscreen pen, still available to order online, and you never need touch a dirty screen or keypad again.
Bath, Somerset
sir – As the Government is now moving to a war footing to fight the coronavirus, might I suggest that it considers issuing Coronavirus Bonds as a way of raising some of the billions of pounds required.
Pensioners like me might have cash savings that are attracting next to nothing in interest and would be only too happy to do their bit by investing in such a bond.
Instead of sponsoring a Spitfire, as happened in the Second World War, we could perhaps sponsor an intensive-care bed or ventilator.
Sevenoaks, Kent
sir – Keeping total deaths from Covid-19 beneath 20,000 (report, March 18) would indeed be a good outcome, considering that the number of deaths associated with influenza in those aged 65 or over in England (excluding Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) in the winter of 2017-18 was more than 22,000. Professor Rudolf Hanka
Wolfson College, Cambridge
sir – You have set out clearly the projected health and mortality consequences of possible approaches to the Covid-19 pandemic, but there needs also to be an estimate of the economic consequences of each.
All sides in UK politics agree that spending less on health and social care costs lives, and if we destroy our economy there will be less money available in the future. This will translate into more lives lost or fewer saved in the years after the pandemic.
Oxford
sir – On the BBC news, an NHS nurse with a sore throat was interviewed at home. She was lamenting her situation, not because she might have coronavirus but because there was no test available and she would have to wait 14 days before she could go back to work, whether or not such precautions were necessary.
The Government should direct kits to the testing of NHS staff.
South Stoke, Berkshire
sir – Philip Johnston (Comment, March 18) is right that belief in the inevitability of progress has often been negated in the last century, by war or natural catastrophe.
Science, however, on which such belief is sometimes based, is not a child of the Enlightenment but is deeply rooted in the Judaeo-christian world-view of an ordered, predictable creation, and in the capacity of the human mind not only to understand it but to mitigate its ill-effects.
The moderate Enlightenment itself owes much to believers like Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle and even John Locke. The radical Enlightenment, from which have sprung aggressive atheism and secularism, reached its climax in Robespierre’s massacres.
Any prevention of the spread of the coronavirus will come from our capacity to understand the world and to help others. This task, as Mr Johnston says, has to be undertaken in humility.
There should be gratitude, then, for what we are able to do, repentance for what’s gone wrong and awareness of our smallness, which should drive us back to church and not to blind panic. Rt Rev Michael Nazir-ali
London W1
sir – We had planned a short break in Edinburgh on March 30, travelling by rail. Under present circumstances, we decided this would be irresponsible. Contacting LNER to cancel our rail booking, we were told that, on the previous day, it had changed its policy and was offering only vouchers, valid for a year, in lieu of cash refunds.
Surely this policy works against Government advice to avoid unnecessary rail travel and will encourage people to undertake pre-booked journeys.
Orpington, Kent
sir – My daughter lives in a small village in Italy where quarantine is strictly enforced.
Not to be denied a birthday last week, they all stood on their own doorsteps with a glass of their own wine in their hands and celebrated – of necessity at the top of their voices.
Birchington-on-sea, Kent
sir – With many urban sports unavailable to youth, is it time to fill the void by adventure training in the hills or at sea?
Young people do not normally suffer serious complications from Covid-19. Organised, isolated youth groups, voluntarily involved in adventure training, away from urban areas might well be the way forward – particularly during school holidays.
Andover, Hampshire
sir – We have a few new jigsaws to occupy us. Once we have done them a few times we will do what my mother did in the war and solve them upside down instead.
Norton Lindsey, Warwickshire
sir – Years ago, my wife and I were music teachers. Now that we have to self-isolate we are learning new piano duets together.
Stourbridge, Worcestershire
sir – My wife and I have both found the Telegraph’s Quick Crossword harder in recent days.
Is this a strategy by the compilers, as we who are self-isolating have more time on our hands?
Streatley, Berkshire
sir – Donald Trump is criticised for calling Covid-19 the “Chinese virus”. The 1918 pandemic was called Spanish flu. Did the Spanish object to its name?
Norwich
sir – The Government advises us to avoid getting together in groups and to keep at least two metres from each other. This advice is ignored during its daily press conferences.
Marlborough, Wiltshire
sir – In this period of national crisis, I am sure the nation and Commonwealth would value an address by the Queen.
Her quiet reassurance would go a long way to give support and cheer during the darkest days since the Second World War.
Romsey, Hampshire