WELL said former BOP council leader Elaine Atkinson (Letters, Nov 13).

I for one had no idea take-aways were driving a horse and carriage through the whole point of lockdown, to keep people distanced and safe.

In all it is hard to see how this pseudo half lock-down could be more chaotic.

You would think after ten months of Covid the message would have penetrated deep into the policy thinking DNA of every policy expert in Whitehall.

Covid is a respiratory SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) viral disease.

It is respiratory. As an aerosol (or tobacco smoke) it lingers in the air. The same micron (0.25 microns) micro structure as asbestos dust, or pollen. And can be transmitted by touch.

If we wear proper respirator masks (carbon filters or better) then the virus cannot get into our airways. And likewise we cannot exhale virus into the air.

My view after ten months, we do not need a lockdown with mass closure of shops. What we need is control of numbers going into shops with then all shops – including hairdressers, cafes, restaurants, and local pubs (not night-clubs) – staying open.

But 100 per cent end all mass congregating. That is what is propagating the virus above all other daily activity. Large numbers of people mobbing together at events, and outside pubs, and take-aways.

And 100 per cent close down all international travel. And wrong, wrong, wrong to move a million propagating students into university cities throughout the country.

And add into this in UK there has been zero street disinfectant spraying. You see this in so many countries, cleansing teams spaying around bus stops and around shopping malls. But not in the UK.

As ever in our country everything is done on the cheap. Far too little far far too late. And yes human behaviour. How we all behave when we are forced to change lifestyles, with for so many deeply distressing impacts on lives.

But all said bottom line government has to stick to clear policies. We cannot endlessly sea-saw from psudo-lock-down, to throwing every thing wide open again, with then mass re-propagation of this deadly virus.

We are all propagators. Each and every one of us has responsibility.

JEFF WILLIAMS

Jubilee Road, Parkstone