More education needed on the virus

DID we miss a trick in the summer to contain the virus and get it properly out of the system?

We certainly went into lockdown late in March, later than many other countries. And we have ended up with more deaths than other European countries too.

The ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme was well-intentioned but wrong. It helped spread the virus.

Instead of thinking that hibernation was over and we had licked the virus, we should have doubled down efforts and used the time to educate people about the virus and what we need to do and why. We could have done this over months in the summer. But before we knew it, the virus had returned with a vengeance in the autumn and we went into another lockdown, again too late. The scientists had wanted an earlier second lockdown and they were right.

Now the virus had mutated and we are battling a surge which threatens the NHS in a third lockdown. Not a good situation and one which the Government has mismanaged. We had nonsense about Brexit and then we had daft decisions and policy from the Prime Minister. He should do the decent thing and go. The Government should do a whole lot more to educate people about the virus and pandemics, so that people are more properly informed on the basic science.

Put it in a leaflet and put that through people’s front doors, do stacks of social media work, and do lots of press, radio and TV work and advertising too. Get the simple messages out! And TikTok is popular with many young people so why not use that creatively too?

Chris Watson

Bristol