Give our NHS heroes reward they deserve
In many hospitals, doctors and nurses are being asked to treat Covid-19 patients without adequate protection. And it appears that the bigger the load carers are exposed to, the worse their own illnesses turn out to be. Retired doctors and nurses who have answered the call to help are being likened to kamikaze pilots.
The overwhelming majority of NHS staff will do what they have been trained to do. This is their time to shine and be applauded.
However, let’s not resurrect that corny old label ‘angels’. They are more like soldiers being instructed to go over the top, armed only with masks, gloves and flimsy aprons against an invisible enemy.
So perhaps it’s time to reappraise where people stand in society. Medics, delivery drivers, binmen and shop staff are the people keeping this country alive. Alan Aitchison, Wakefield
The Fourth Plinth at Trafalgar Square should be turned into a permanent memorial to those key workers who go out to work today
and tomorrow, risking their lives on our behalf. The rest of us should reflect on their sense of duty and not complain about the suspension of civil liberties. Mel Pinnock, Glemsford, Suffolk
Is a weekly round of applause enough recognition for key workers? Surely this year the Birthday and New Year Honours lists should be given over entirely to those people to whom we will owe so much. Alan Gainer, Much Wenlock, Shropshire
Whenever a serviceman or servicewoman goes on active duty, they are aware that they are at risk from the enemy. This service is recognised by the country with a medal.
There are now thousands of
NHS staff every day donning their uniform to fight the coronavirus – today’s enemy.
I therefore recommend that a suitable medal be struck to recognise this service, to be awarded when this particular
conflict has ended. So many have gone above and beyond the call of duty. S. Swain, Rhoose, South Wales
In the MoS last week, former footballer Jonathan Walters wrote that the average Premier League player earns £3 million a year.
The average nurse earns £25,000. I am a big football fan but this is so unfair. It’s time for footballers to give up those salaries for ever. Harry Walmsley, Reading
It’s right that players take a cut to ensure that other workers at clubs do not have their salaries subsidised by the taxpayer, and that clubs as a whole make significant donations to lowerleague sides to help ensure their survival. However, personal donations to the NHS are pointless virtue-signalling. Kevin Coley, Leicester
Never mind singing the praises of some overpaid celebrity for taking a pay cut – what about thinking more carefully about recognising
the grafters behind the scenes, be it a professor trying to find a cure for this virus or the hospital cleaner who has worked long hours to help things along? Tony Thompson, Banbury
Many people in industry and sport are taking wage cuts and donating cash to help the less well off.
It is time BBC executives, presenters and ‘celebrities’ did the same. Their wages are paid by licence fees, which struggling families still have to pay.
Also, our politicians are still earning over-inflated wages while telling other people that
they must lose their means to earn money. Isn’t that hypocritical? George McCleery, Dunfermline, Fife
If a football ‘hero’ on £200,000 a week is paid in a day what a nurse gets in a year, define ‘hero’. Alan Harvey, Yarm, North Yorkshire
Is a footballer really worth 150 doctors or 300 nurses? Adrian Beadnell, Saltburn-by-Sea, North Yorkshire
Historically, viral infections have died back in the summer, but will
Covid-19 do so if our skins are denied the benefits of ultraviolet light, our lungs the extra oxygen produced by trees and plants, and our immune systems denied their usual dose of sunshine and sport? Iris Clyde, Kirkwall, Orkney
It’s great to see so many people exercising sensibly, including those who never used to do so. Some online fitness classes are excellent but too strenuous for me. I’m with the Green Goddess – you can do her routine sitting down. Allan Bell, Edinburgh
Why have non-essential shops
been forced to close yet online outlets such as Amazon can keep trading? Are the delivery drivers then out for non-essential reasons? Mike Higgins, Dundee
When wind farms have to shut because their power is not needed, they get paid millions of pounds in compensation. So why aren’t the dairy farmers forced to pour away milk not getting payouts? A. Grant, Lenzie, Dunbartonshire
When all of this is over, let’s hope for a more compassionate and equitable society. Denis Bruce, Glasgow