Will the country ever be given the chance to learn to live with Covid?
sir – Boris Johnson has put the country on alert once more, warning that there may be fresh Covid restrictions and even another lockdown (report, September 15).
Chris Whitty, meanwhile, is spreading doom and gloom, suggesting that the NHS could be overwhelmed again, even though it never was.
Who saw this coming? Everyone – and we are sick and tired of not being allowed to get on with living our lives. This virus is here to stay.
Simon Crowley
Kemsing, Kent
sir – The Prime Minister said that the ending of lockdown would be “irreversible”. So much for that.
Already he is telling us what “might” happen in the autumn: compulsory masks, working from home and the possibility of a further lockdown.
Experience suggests that this is not a case of “might” but “will”. The technique employed is simple but effective: give people time to get used to the idea and they will accept it without question when it is finally implemented.
Surely it is time to end this farce. The entertainment and hospitality industries have only just reopened and cannot survive another hit.
David Lane
Birmingham
sir – It was somewhat disingenuous of Professor Whitty to compare last September’s Covid figures with the current ones.
In 2020, many people had prematurely died of Covid in the spring and summer, so the figures on last September’s graph appear low.
As for case numbers, far more testing is now taking place, which inevitably means there are more cases, but most of them are not resulting in serious illness.
Fiona Wild
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
sir – At Tuesday’s briefing the Prime Minister delivered the usual mixture of ambiguous graphs and lots of words.
My conclusion: nothing has changed, and he is sitting firmly on the fence.
Boris Johnson is the consummate politician: he makes a big noise without committing to anything. While I appreciate that this is how politics normally works, it’s not what we need right now. What we need is a leader who will set a course and follow it.
Steve Petherbridge
Blyth, Nottinghamshire
sir – I applaud Boris Johnson for making preparations for winter in good time.
Any sensible leader must be ready to tighten the rules if necessary: we all saw how fast the delta variant spread last year.
Geoffrey Brooking
Havant, Hampshire
sir – Could the Government at least give us a bit more notice before it decides to cancel Christmas this year? Keith Chambers Brockenhurst, Hampshire