Letters: I’m so tired of this joyless Covid world that is being foisted upon us

I’m tired of seeing Jason Leitch, Nicola Sturgeon, Matt Hancock, Boris Johnson et al, on the TV, constantly telling me that they understand, know how it feels etc, when it is fairly obvious that they really don’t.

I’m tired of a Government that appears to always be blaming citizens for rises in Covid cases while accepting no responsibility for its many mistakes as it hands out my money to tits favoured donors who have failed miserably to set up an effective track and trace system.

I’m tired of living like this, with no hope ever being expressed for a better future and a media who seem to relish stories of gloom and doom.

Most of all. I’m tired of the seeming assumption that life is a bed of roses and that avoidance of death takes precedence over every aspect of life that makes it worth living.

I’m tired.

Dave Henderson, Glasgow G12.

HAVING previously written to The Herald (September 1) to express my opinion that the day-to-day essential functions of the NHS should not be ignored because of Covid-19, I fully back Gavin Tait (Letters, October 6) in his call for greater political and press scrutiny of the Scottish Government's stewardship of the NHS in Scotland at this time. As a retired GP I remain unchanged in my view that there is a pernicious, blinkered, single-issue view of healthcare in our country at present and that this is without any doubt whatsoever damaging the long term health of the nation.

The opening line of the 1944 White Paper, A National Health Service, states: "The new service is designed to provide, for everyone who wishes to use it, a full range of healthcare." The current transformation of our NHS into a National Covid Service does a grave disservice to the brave pioneers who brought the NHS into being.

(Dr) Michael J Laggan, Perthshire.

MAY I echo the point made by Bill Bridges (Letters, October 6)? The flu season is generally reckoned to be October March, yet according to the Greater Glasgow Health Board website, letters containing vaccination appointments were being sent out from mid-September over a period of 8-10 weeks, that is, up until the end of November. One has to presume that those receiving them towards the end of this period will have to wait until December (or later?) for their vaccinations. Not much use if there is an early onset of flu, in this most critical of years.

Flu vaccinations have of course hitherto been carried out without fuss at GP surgeries, but this is yet another example of our front line in health treatment being posted missing in action. While hospital doctors and nurses, care workers, transport workers, shop staff and the like have all been battling through this crisis, GP surgeries (if mine is anything to go by) are locked, one being only allowed in with an appointment and after a temperature check, such appointment being for the nurse but not the doctor, who I am told, only gives telephone consultations. They don't even want you in there collecting your repeat prescription, preferring to send it direct to a pharmacy.

I don't know how GP representatives can claim that it is a myth that GPs are not seeing patients in light of the evidence contained in a number of your readers' letters, which fully accords with the experience of a number of my acquaintances. And these same representatives then evince concern at the health implications for people with serious symptoms of other diseases not coming forward, categorising this as a fear of contracting Covid, rather than the barriers being put in their way. I am surprised that there has not been more fuss about this state of affairs.

Robert Murray, Glasgow G41.

LIKE several of your readers I have been unable to get an appointment to have my annual flu injection. Since I am over 65, have an underlying health problem and was asked to shield for 17 weeks earlier this year this is of no small concern. I have made several phone calls, to be told that he/she had nothing to do with the situation or I would get a letter sooner or later. As a result I contacted my MSP, who kindly supplied me with another phone number which he thought might help. The person that I spoke to there told me that the next batch of letters would be going out in two to three weeks' time. By her estimation I should get my flu injection sometime in November.

Like others who were asked to shield I frequently thought that we had been forgotten about during lockdown. It would seem now, that those with the greatest need are once again being forgotten about, or is it that we are expendable?

When I was asked to shield in March the phrase that was often used was "protect yourself, protect the NHS". I did my part, the NHS is singularly failing to do likewise.

Ellen C Hamilton, Glasgow G44.

HAVING had my flu jab yesterday following a letter from my local GP practice which clearly outlined the arrangements for the jab with an appointment time , I feel that I had to write to say that my experience had been quite different to the those of your recent correspondents. The medical centre has erected a large awning in the car park as a temporary base from whiere they provided an excellent and efficient service and on time.

So well done, Ardrossan South Beach Practice.

Ron Lavalette, Ardrossan.

YOUR chief sports writer, Matthew Lindsay, quotes figures used by Professor Jason Leitch in defence of the decision not to allow spectators into sporting events ("Sturgeon can't soften fan ban while virus cases rise, Herald Sport, October 5). The only problem is that Prof Leitch's figures were, to put it kindly, highly misleading.

In response to Neil Lennon questioning why 18,000 people could watch an NFL match in Kansas City but nobody could attend a game in Scotland, Professor Leitch rather too glibly replied that he had "looked at Kansas City". He added, as Mr Lindsay quotes: "Their death rate is the same as our case rate. So I don't think we should be taking our example from Kansas City".

That was nonsense when he said it and remains so today. The fact that it went uncorrected means that it is still being quoted by Mr Lindsay and others as an argument relevant to the fate of Scottish football.

According to the most recent figures, there have been 2,248 Covid-19 deaths in Missouri (which includes Kansas City) from a population of 6.15 million people. According to National Records of Scotland, we have had 4,257 deaths from a population of 5.5 million. There have been around 32,000 cases identified in Scotland.

We can only hope that the rest of Professor Leitch's "evidence" on which crucial decisions are based in somewhat more reliable than his knowledge of Covid-19 in Kansas City.

Liam Graham, Alexandria.

THERE is a degree of irony that you should run a story on financial help for football clubs at the end of the transfer period where you report Scottish clubs signing on new players from both at home and abroad, no mention of signing-on fees or salaries being paid ("Sturgeon says talks ongoing over dedicated football Covid funds", The Herald, October 6). Am I alone in thinking that if clubs can afford these costs at a time when they have limited income then they can continue to exist without receiving public funds?

Perhaps the SFA could introduce a levy on those clubs which could then be passed on to clubs which do not have the resources to keep going.

Bill Eadie, Giffnock.

SINCE the start of the coronavirus pandemic, both the UK media and governments have (not deliberately, but essentially) colluded to ply a narrative of fear before a virus which has serious consequences for a minority of the population – the inconvenient truth which deflates their apocalypse.

This is not to make light of this infection, since the danger is that the small proportion of the population affected could be anywhere; crowds especially offering the virus easy transmission.

But Government and the media continue to cite unexplained figures of Covid infection and deaths – sensationalist, and unhelpful to the public wishing to take prudent but realistic precautions.

For instance, we are continually informed of an infection rate of so many per 100,000, but even an outlier such as 500 per 100,000 is 0.5 per cent for that hundred thousand; which means that 95.5% are not Covid-positive.

My point is that it’s high-time the media and Government start to report the Covid issue proportionately and realistically, and stop plying scary stories to an audience whom they seem to regard as children (and even children would soon catch on to their patronisation).

Philip Adams, Crosslee.

CATRIONA C Clark (Letters, October 5) makes a valid point when she says that easing the visiting regime in care homes will put staff and their families at greater risk and potentially jeopardise the care of residents. She believes we all need to consider the bigger picture – so let's do that.

NHS staff – particularly those caring for Covid patients – and their families have been put at greater risk for most of this year, and the risk has been managed. Likewise anyone who works in our emergency services and their families have been put at greater risk, and the risk has been managed. Key workers in our supermarkets, pharmacies and public transport have been put at greater risk, and the risk has been managed. Furthermore, I haven't heard anyone from any of these sectors suggest that they should be given special consideration because the element of risk may mean they cannot continue to provide a service.

The current visiting regime for care home residents and their families is horrific and the impact on their mental health significant. I sincerely hope the regulations for visiting care homes are relaxed soon, and when they are it must not be beyond the wit of care homes to manage the risk that is being managed in many other sectors, including hospitals and schools.

Tragically, care homes and their staff are not a special case – we truly are all in this together.

Carol Vanzetta, East Kilbride.