Living in suspended animation waiting for a vaccine to break the spell

sir – Aged over 60, I work in an office where several people under the age of 25 also work.

The other day I asked them if they approved of the current restriction of their lives by the Government. There was a collective shrug and comments along the lines of: “We need to do this until the vaccine is available.”

Their jobs for now are reasonably secure. However, they seem to live in a universe where everything is about saving lives, with no understanding that the provision of public services is linked to the taxes paid by people serving them in the pubs and fast-food venues they choose to frequent.

They genuinely believe a vaccine will be available within months and administered to the entire population overnight, like an automatic update of their phone software while they sleep.

In a way I envy them as I fret daily about the consequences for our country of the current restrictions. I suspect their innocence will allow them to accept whatever the final effects of current policies are. I just hope they are not a reflection of an entire generation.

Ian Mackenzie

Broughton, Lancashire

sir – I live in Bradford metropolitan district, where we have endured a second lockdown for over two months.

I am retired, so by definition I do not go out to work. Lockdown demands that I do not go out to meet friends or relatives in their houses or gardens. My activities are limited to walking, gardening and eating out.

With winter approaching, outdoor activities become difficult. The only light in the gloom is eating out. There are several pubs in our area which, like Wetherspoon’s, stoically implement all the regulations that the Government advises. I feel safe in them. I need them to save my sanity.

Prime Minister, please be kind. Close establishments that flout the rules but leave alone those that are beating the virus.

E S Brown

Keighley, West Yorkshire sir – In April, the NHS banned leave for October unless already booked. The authorities knew that, with people returning from holiday and students to universities and with the weather changing, a new wave was inevitable.

It is time to bite the bullet. Protect the vulnerable, and let the young and healthy gain immunity.

Paul Caruana

Truro, Cornwall

sir – Sentenced to lose his livelihood, Shylock says: “You take my life, / When you do take the means whereby I live.” The number of lives taken as a result of the Government’s strategy do not appear in the daily statistics. Giles Slaughter

Woodbridge, Suffolk

sir – Tot homines quot sententiae. Terence was right. He was fed up with being lectured by the latest talkinghead’s twopenceworth. Is is too much to ask for one Covid-free day a week? John Taylor

Purley, Surrey