Boris Johnson speaks of “protecting ourselves without losing our liberties”. This is frighteningly ridiculous. If you are Covid positive and don’t self-isolate, or you refuse to wear a mask in a crowded, poorly ventilated environment, then the risk is all on me. You will, in fact, be reducing the likelihood of my being able to protect myself and with it increasing the likelihood that I will lose my liberties.
I behave responsibly, and care about other people’s health. Should I catch Covid, it would never occur to me to risk the health of others by continuing as I was doing (so-called exercising my liberty) and running the risk of infecting others (who would have every right to be angry with me if I knew beforehand that I was Covid positive).
Covid infection prevalence throughout the country is still extraordinarily high. Johnson speaks as if he has unilaterally decided that the pandemic is over. He is far from an expert, as his government’s record demonstrates. Bluntly, he has no clue as to the direction of this disease. I am deeply shocked at the rhetoric and complete absence of logic.
Dr Michael Sheard
Northallerton, North Yorkshire
• It sounds very attractive that “daily case numbers have fallen to about a fifth of the record peak at the start of 2022” (Johnson to say ending Covid rules in England is a ‘moment of pride’, 20 February), but it is deceptive. Government reported case numbers depend on the availability of tests, people being willing to take tests and then being prepared to report the result. Much better measures come from the Zoe study and the Office for National Statistics. The government figures for hospitalisations and deaths are reliable and pointing in the right direction; its figures for cases are no longer meaningful.
David Davies
Salisbury, Wiltshire
• Boris Johnson prefers people to take personal responsibility for their Covid-preventive behaviour rather than being legally required. Putting to one side the important concern for those who lack the means for such responsibility, we may ask how far does he want to go.
Will he shortly be repealing those laws that instruct us to wear safety belts, drive on the left and stop at red lights? Are restrictions on firearm ownership, animal mistreatment and health and safety regulations also to be abandoned? Of course, public safety and animal welfare are at issue with those suggestions, but then so is public safety where Covid behaviour is concerned.
Peter Cave
London
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