Staying Covid-safe needs common sense

I DO not consider myself as a recluse or a hermit, though at times I might be regarded as something of a Philistine. I do not live a troglodytic existence. Yet I have no burning desire to visit a tattooist, a massage parlour or a gym. Since late childhood I have not felt a compulsion to even visit a hairdresser. Nor do I habitually visit expensive restaurants or public houses, cinemas or theatres and attending an all-night rave or other tightly packed public gathering would be anathema to me.

I have no need or desire to visit far flung places on the planet, even if briefly. But on occasions I do require access to pharmacies and banking services. So, like thousands, if not millions of others, I do not even need to know which tier I am currently in.

Yet there are numerous experts who spend their lives – and our money – calculating, discussing and arguing about such things and endlessly through presentations in the media, repeatedly inundating us with such facts and opinions.

It constantly surprises me that we have abandoned the notion of people using common sense and accepting personal responsibility over their own lives, but prefer to judge how they should behave in an uncertain world on the outpourings of officials who invariably maintain that if a perceived problem arises then it is their job to interfere in finding a solution.

Anthony G Phillips Salisbury