Letters - May 2, 2020

I’m not sure if other readers have noticed the significant increase in the price of their weekly grocery bill of late ?

My elderly father’s grocery items have remained much the same for some time now, but the pricing of these items have now increased to an extortionate rate.=

I notice one supermarket has hiked up disproportionate increases on several items as much as 50 or 60p an item. It would appear that the coronavirus emergency measures will prove quite profitable for the supermarket chains.

Or perhaps we are to be penalised for those who were panic buying at the beginning of the lockdown?

If these increases were to be shared among the supermarket’s staff, who are also in the frontline, then one would not begrudge the price increase.

However, I very much doubt that is the case.

The supermarket chains never miss out, whether there is an emergency or not!

Tony Callaghan

via email

Virus

Beacon of hope in coronavirus war

We must remember the people who died of coronavirus: NHS staff, care staff, key personnel, and all other loving members of families.

I also agree with Gazette editor Gillian Parkinson in her opinion piece ‘Questions will need to be answered on care deaths’ (Your Say, April 30).

Let us have some hope.

Winston Churchill used the word ‘beacon’ in a famous speech.

There are many meanings of ‘beacon’, for instance, it is a light or fire on a hill or tower which acts as a signal and warning, like a lighthouse. It is also something that holds the promise of hope. Also if someone acts as a beacon to other people, then they inspire and encourage them. It is something that also holds the promise of hope.

Scientists are trying to find a cure for coronavirus. Let us hope a cure will soon be found to save the lives of people all over the world. Hope we will soon win the war.

P O’Connor

Address supplied

Health

Bad for body’s immune system

Another week of lockdown and no indication of how long this will continue.

The human immune system is a wonderful and complex thing. It is always a ‘work in progress’ and requires continual maintenance to work at its optimal level.

The best way to nurture a healthy immune system is to have contact with the outside world and each other.

Passing on germs is key to keeping our immune systems fit and well, and 99.9 per cent of said germs do us no harm whatsoever in that they produce no symptoms, do not make us ill and, on the contrary, play a crucial role in keeping us not only healthy but preparing us for when a particularly nasty bug comes along.

There are many downsides to lockdown but the damage this is doing to our immune systems is not being discussed. Every day we are under house arrest, our immune systems are degrading. Because we are denied contact with others, we are not keeping ourselves topped up with what we require to ‘feed’ our immune system. The longer this carries on, the more damage will be done.

The powers-that-be claim they will not rush into lifting the lockdown because they fear a second wave of coronavirus.

Problem is that the longer this continues, the more likely it is that, when we have some of our freedoms restored, our immune systems will have been so compromised in the meantime that even the most insignificant bug, which we would normally handle without issues, will knock us for six.

Before lockdown occurred, there was talk of leaving things as they are so that we could develop herd immunity. Whilst this may have produced a higher spike in the first few weeks, the overall effect could well have been fewer deaths ‘with’ coronavirus and, more importantly, would have kept our immune systems ticking over.

A few countries did not and have not imposed lockdown. If you believe what we have been told then you would logically expect these countries to have experienced far higher death rates and far more confirmed cases of Covid-19. But this is not the case. Maybe lockdown isn’t the best medicine after all.

TK

via email