Our Government is hoping that we will obey their instructions to the letter as this coronavirus flows through our country causing lockdown.

I beg to differ. People are rebelling. Some have been cautioned by police as they inhabit our Yorkshire beauty spots. I have observed recently in York a vast increase in joggers, cyclists, cars etc, all disobeying Government instructions to stay isolated at home.

Will this increase as our confinement creates mental turmoil?

I suggest that we require a different remedy.

The simple solution is to respect the British public and admire their common sense. Please allow us to evaluate our own situation.

Pubs, eating places and coffee houses could well open without violating the common sense distancing parameters. Air flows could be introduced to create a productive safe breathing space within buildings. Face masks have not been scientifically proven to be effective, but logic suggests that not breathing each other’s germs must be a positive thing.

We should be able to: recognise the hazard; contain that hazard; and with caution, enjoy our lives again.

Phil Shepherdson,

Chantry Close,York

The focus now should be on eradicating Covid

The only concern now must be eradicating Covid.

Economics, personal freedoms, politics, and the public’s frustrations are immaterial. When this crisis is over, all businesses will have to accept where we are and that things like trading and commerce will have changed considerably from where they were before the pandemic.

Those who adapt will succeed, while those who don’t will struggle.

Geoff Robb,

Hunters Close,

Dunnington

There are too many chiefs in the NHS

During these strange times I have been able to watch many bulletins about the problems we face. Whilst watching them I have been amazed at how many members of the NHS are CEOs. We have a CEO for this, a CEO for that and no doubt a CEO for the other.

Every one of these will be on a large salary no doubt. But the one thing they have in common is that they are not to blame for anything. It is not their fault they have not stockpiled equipment which would be needed in this type of emergency, it is the Government’s fault.

Did they learn nothing from the SARs pandemic? When will these overpaid people take responsibility for their shortcomings and stop blaming others?

The NHS is short of staff but not short of these pen pushers. Even privately owned care homes who charge large sums for their services think it is the responsibility of Government to equip them. Strange times indeed.

Les Coverdale, Elvington

Criticism is missing the mood of the nation

The BBC and the national press are missing the mood of the country.

We don’t want constant criticism of the Government, which is doing its very best in a very difficult and unprecedented global emergency.

We want and need a national effort, not criticism from people trying to make political capital, and who are responsible for nothing.

Keith Thornton,

De Grey Place,

Bishopthorpe, York

Future governments must be better prepared

Here is a public notice dated October 19, 1918, from a city called Kelowna in Canada’s British Columbia: ‘Notice is hereby given in order to prevent the spread of Spanish Influenza, all schools public and private, churches, theatres, moving picture halls, pool rooms and other places of amusement and lodge meetings are closed till further notice. All public gatherings consisting of ten or more are prohibited’.

Sounds familiar? In 1720 there was the plague, 1820 cholera, 1920 Spanish Influenza, 2020 coronavirus.

It seems that every 100 years an epidemic of one form or another spreads over the world.

I hope that the governments of future generations will make more preparation for another pandemic than ours made for this one.

Maureen Robinson,

Broadway, York

We must work together to get through this crisis

As a result of the Marshall Plan - astute thinking in the USA - we in Europe were helped to build up and recover after the Second World War.

It wasn’t just an altruistic gesture but a very practical one.

We now have a global crisis. We may be an island - but we’re a very small, dependent one. Like it or not we are all in this together.

Scientists from all over the world are working as one to solve the health crisis, as will the economists.

We all appreciate the brave dedicated NHS workers and all the other people who are working to keep the country going.

But we also have so many scientists working unseen in their labs frantically trying to beat the virus, and economists trying to keep the country afloat. They also deserve our appreciation.

Kath Powell,

Cawood Common, Selby