I can see the logic of the emergency planners wanting to temporarily close schools in areas hit by coronavirus (UK planning: Schools may be closed if number of cases surges, 25 February) but no mention is made that these closures need to be accompanied by all those children staying at home for the duration of the closures.
If not, then there will be potentially hundreds of children running around the areas in question. And if the children are to stay in their homes, then what about their parents? Shouldn’t these areas be closed down altogether – as in Italy and other countries – or would it be simply left to people to “self-isolate”?
Disturbingly, and despite being told that the Department of Health and the NHS are well prepared for any UK coronavirus cases, the government’s response to a pandemic will not be to impose any travel or movement restrictions because of the “lack of scientific evidence on the impact on internal travel restrictions on transmissions”. Sounds like a “we’ll suck it and see” approach.
Gary Bennett
Exeter
• Having flown to the UK from Venice to Manchester on Monday night, you can image my surprise to not experience any checks on temperature or indeed anything else (Time running out to contain coronavirus, experts warn, 24 February). We were checked for our temperatures on arrival in Venice on Friday, and since then the Carnevale has been postponed and nearby areas have been put into lockdown. Is the UK taking this threat seriously?
Philip Collier
Bolton
• A year ago I published a novel, – The Zeno Effect – exploring the social and political consequences of an aggressive, genetically engineered viral pandemic. While I do not expect the present Covid-19 crisis to reach the heights of my fictional equivalent, I have no doubt that it will prove to be a pandemic of significant proportions.
As a sociologist, what engaged me in the novel was the decay and collapse of social order in the wake of rampant disease. Public discussion of the coronavirus event has not yet much touched upon this possibility, tending to focus on more immediate economic consequences.
However, while affluent countries with highly developed health systems are likely to be able to protect themselves against such social disorder, poor countries are surely not in a position to do so. In these circumstances it is vital that rich nations offer significant aid to the poor, not simply out of common humanity – although definitely that – but also because the knock-on effects of widespread societal collapse will be long-term and terrible for us all.
Andrew Tudor
Professor emeritus, University of York
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