IN her 1967 chart hit ‘Ode to Billy Joe’ Bobby Gentry sang:

“There was a virus going round, Papa caught it and he died last spring.

Now Mama doesn’t seem to want to do much of anything”.

Viruses have always been around and have always had fatalities.

Some more virulent and dangerous than others.

Covid-19 is just another virus; albeit a more serious one.

We all need to accept this and get on with life.

The idea that Covid-19 can be dealt with by means of endless lockdowns and border closures is erroneous. The restrictions are doing more harm than the virus itself.

Moreover, those who believe that viruses can be totally eradicated by continued draconian controls on our everyday lives are kidding themselves.

It is like King Canute at the seaside ordering the waves not to roll onto the beach. It is never going to work.

Matthew Laverack,

Eldon Street,

York