Covid will continue to affect our society. It follows then that we will have to learn to live with Covid, just like we live with flu.

So, we all have to be thinking about a ‘how to live with Covid strategy’, and to get involved in the ongoing discussions about reorganising our wonderful health service to function even better. Likewise, we see teachers (if not yet their unions, unfortunately) determined to keep children in schools this year, which is a better position than a year ago.

Pandemics end by spreading in a weakened, dilute form, thus generating herd immunity. Omicron seems to be doing this, as shown by experience in South Africa. This tendency is reinforced by our brilliantly successful vaccine production and distribution programmes.

So there is no need for more lockdowns, for more travel bans, for mandatory vaccinations, or for Covid passports. We need to get back to work, get back into life again, and keep washing and sanitising our hands. Doing all these things makes another lockdown and continued restrictions unnecessary.

Will Podmore

Clavering Road, Wanstead