Leaks from hotels

SINCE that first wave of Covid-19, every lockdown, every infection, every death can be laid at the feet of a failure in hotel quarantine.

Quarantine has kept us safe for centuries from smallpox, typhoid, TB, rabies and a host of other diseases, some of which still ravage other countries.

We have already shown that were it not for the hotel leaks, we would be fully “opened up” internally. Indeed we would never have needed to shut down.

Any measure to stop those leaks must be welcomed with open hands.

But now we have to scramble for the life jackets of vaccination because the government is dazzled by slogans like “learn to live with it” and “herd immunity”.

They are set on scuppering the ship in the name of getting “back to normal”.

For the “normal” that they seek, we have only to keep an eye on Britain. Their death rate of a hundred a day will continue to climb as infections spread throughout the community. The British vaccination rate is far above our targets for “opening up”.

But we still have time to wait and see.

For some months now I have been very glad to wear both layers of the AstraZeneca lifejacket, but I wonder how long it will keep me afloat if the scuppers are opened and our boat is allowed to sink.

JOHN BILLINGSLEY, Toowoomba