The media glass is always half empty and it reports that 50 per cent of intensive care clients die, which is of course very sad, depressing news, for patients and family.

However I find it encouraging that 50 per cent survive and would report it that way.

It is even more positive when you consider most intensive care patients are suffering other conditions and are mostly very old, one in his 90s recently passing away.

For anybody with the coronavirus alone, this is reasonably encouraging. Given that less stress and good morale encourages good health, the media should be more positive. Let the Press please lead the way.

John Zimnoch

Osbaldwick Village, York

Let’s start cutting each other some slack

It’s amazing in a crisis how swiftly people lose their heads and start behaving in such an irrational way, abandoning all common sense and reason.

No, I’m not talking about panic buying, though it’s true a few individuals have gone too far. Stocking up before indefinite imprisonment is a natural response to the unknown.

I’m referring to those people, most of whom I’ll wager have big houses and spacious gardens, lashing out on the internet at the tiniest perceived infraction of the poorly-worded lockdown guidance.

Even certain police forces have jumped at the opportunity to hit the streets in an overzealous manner, without understanding the real idea behind the social distancing policy.

Worse still they’re now encouraging people to spy on their neighbours and report any petty breaking or bending of these new guidelines to them.

They’ve failed to realise the obvious abuse such a scheme is open to and the potential damage to community relations after this crisis has abated. Why don’t we have less of the abuse, use common sense and start cutting each other some slack?

Dr Scott Marmion,

Woodthorpe, York

Does PM need to write to every household?

The Prime Minister is reported to be writing to every household in the country regarding the actions to be taken against preventing the spread of the coronavirus, costing some £5.8 million pounds. What a total waste of money.

As we have a daily update, regular advertisements on commercial TV, and endless ‘reminders’ in the papers of what course of action to take, this unnecessary extravagance should not have happened, the money being put to a more useful purpose such as the National Health Service. Mind you, it’s keeping the postal staff in a job!

R. Hutchinson, Beckfield Lane