Letters - Wednesday, December 2 2020

I hold mixed views on the Covid-19 tier system.

While I accept that the Government has a responsibility to keep the populace safe from the virus, I am at odds with some of the criteria that is used in deciding what we can and can’t do.

For instance, in Tier 3, the one with the greatest restrictions on our daily life, gyms are allowed to open while restaurants must remain closed.

Let’s examine a little closer a typical situation in both these establishments.

No doubt both will observe the obvious requirements of wearing masks to enter, social distancing and adopting track and trace capabilities.

Patrons of both will now undertake the reason for their visit – eating and exercising.

The restaurant patrons will be shown to their socially distanced table.

They will order their meal via paper menus used only once.

They will receive sanitised cutlery and will be served by staff wearing face coverings. During their meal they will probably converse.

This is one of the surest ways of spreading the virus.

However, as we are all socially distanced, and the person or party sharing your table is probably in your household or bubble, any viral discharge from a normal conversation is unlikely to cause a problem.

Now let’s look at the gym.

No doubt similar precautions will exist until of course the patrons commence their various exercise routines where the people in their immediate vicinity are probably strangers.

They will inevitably start breathing hard from their exertions and this of course presents the big difference between restaurant and gym patrons.

Breathing hard will expel potentially harmful particles up to five times further in a gym than they would in a restaurant, which makes a mockery of the prescribed social distancing limit.

I therefore contend that visitors to a restaurant are in a much safer environment than gym patrons.

I am not advocating that they close gyms but rather to allow restaurants to open.

I think that the logic behind this comparison is irrefutable and the Government should reassess its criteria for allowing gyms to operate while denying much safer establishments, such as restaurants, to remain closed.

Derek Rogerson

address supplied

Sport

Nationwide admiration for Niall

As a former long-time Blackpool Gazette sports reporter covering local non-League football, I’ve always followed the fortunes of players moving off the Fylde coast.

Hence it was an absolute delight to find the national spotlight trained on FA Cup hero Niall Cummins, who is fondly remembered at AFC Blackpool for a terrific 18 months with the club.

AFC Blackpool shared the celebrations as captain Niall dramatically bundled in the only goal in the dying seconds of extra-time on Sunday against higher-ranked visitors Havant and Waterlooville to take Merseyside team Marine into the third round and be rewarded with a dream tie at home to Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur. This followed a nerve-shredding giantkilling in the previous round when Niall’s men won away at Colchester in a penalty shootout.

From the moment Marine booked their place in that first round, PE teacher Niall has featured as a televised interviewee on BBC and Granada during the draws and after the games. And the way he has unassumingly and articulately conducted himself will have won him nationwide admiration.

AFC Blackpool, who play in the sixth tier of non-League football in the North-West Counties League Division One North, have never forgotten the contribution striker Niall made. Joining from Garstang who were in the amateur West Lancashire League, he looked a class apart as the team romped to NWCL promotion in 2011. Their leading scorer bagged goals for fun and it was inevitable he’d move to a higher level.

He left with the Common Edge-based club’s blessing, and stalwart servants like chairman Tommy Baldwin and secretary Billy Singleton are so proud to see their old boy deserving his moment of footballing fame.

Mike Young

St Annes

Economy

Businesses must also shop local

I try to support local businesses where I can but only if they themselves support local businesses.

Just one example is that I will not buy Christmas cards that are not from the UK. There are many examples like this and my rule is that if the country of origin is not on the label then I do not buy.

If it is labelled then I can make an informed decision to buy or not.

Richard Bird

via email

Virus

We should treat everyone the same

The splitting of 99 per cent of the population between Tiers 2 and 3 is raising much concern and disagreements, many places in Tier 2 with relative low levels of the virus asking why they can’t be given a Tier 1 status which they believe is their right.

The PM basically says that it’s not possible to micromanage, resulting in too many areas given different results.

My own view is that the whole country should be treated the same with restrictions probably between those put forward for Tiers 2 and 3.

Keith Turnbull

via email