Hygiene message

I was listening to a discussion on Saturday on BBC Radio4 Women’s Hour about coronavirus .

It started with a professor saying the UK numbers continue to be low. With that in mind and ten minutes to fill, the conversation naturally turned to the vital issue of the impact on schoolchildren.

They might be low risk, but they’ve been shown how to keep their hands clean and the panel were very worried that this would badly affect kids with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and make them, obsessively and compulsively, wash their hands.

They were also worried about a potential increase in bullying of childen of immigrants from countries with larger numbers of cases.

The good news was an unintended side-benefit of coronavirus could be a resolution to the growing “epidemic” of schoolchildren not knowing they should wash their hands before eating and after going to the toilet.

Public service broadcasting at its best.

And if anyone is wondering why a 64-year-old male was listening to Women’s Hour when he should be listening to the football commentaries on Radio Scotland, I did tune in for a few minutes and as always was appalled by the hyped, frenetic commentaries, affected accents and diction and screaming interruptions.

Bring back David Francey and Arthur Montford! ALLAN SUTHERLAND Willow Row, Stonehaven

There are various ways to look at the coronavirus. As a nation we know people are going to catch the bug and about one in 140 of them will die from it. It is up to all of us to check its spread by adopting measures that are sensible and effective.

Yet, per individual, the risk at this stage is very small. As I write, there are 206 known cases in the UK. If for each of these there are four mild cases that go unreported, and if each infects on average 2.2 others, then in a population of 70 million, the odds against catching it are 30,000 to 1.

These odds are shortening, of course, and it can be fun to panic, but to do this so soon is unseemly and unhelpful. We need not rush to the shops and strip the shelves like Vikings on a day out.

Wise people watch and wait, knowing they can choose to panic later. We should do the same.

GEORGE BYRON Comely Bank Avenue, Edinburgh