MASK UP PROPERLY
FACE masks are a vital part of slowing the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Everyone in the health, hospitality and retail sectors have to wear masks to protect you, the general public - not to protect themselves. I have just worked the first few days of this year in Community Pharmacy and need to explain:
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
- Put your mask on before walking inside - there's no point carrying it around for a while in your hand while you look around.
- Twirling the mask on your hand provides no protection.
- Having the mask covering your chin, but not your mouth or nose, provides no protection, but will keep your chin warm.
- Taking your mask off to cough, sneeze or talk does not provide protection. In fact this is why we wear masks - to capture the droplets created from these events.
- Putting your hand over your mouth is not the same as wearing a mask. Yes, people do this! Complaining about wearing a mask for a few minutes to people who have to wear them all day is probably pointless.
Let's all work together to wear masks properly, before entering venues, for the good of the entire community to slow the spread of this virus.
Rhys Morris, Olde Tudor, Summerhill and Fitzpatrick's Pharmacies
FINE E-SCOOTER RIDERS
SO there is an issue with e-scooters. I would say all of them have an identifying number on them so the company can tell who had any particular scooter.
So why can't the council fine the owners for every one parked incorrectly, then the company pass this on to the user, word would soon get around?
Garry Mitchell, Burnie.
NOT TOO LATE FOR REDEMPTION
AS our COVID situation deteriorates, I hope that Peter Gutwein will not go down in history as the Tasmanian Premier who went from saviour to the architect of our misery. He may still redeem himself by closing the border, but my cynicism suggests not before the next Ashes Test, which in itself has the potential to be a super-spreader.
It seems that COVID-19 in Australia has become a tug of war between health and wealth. The morality of the wealth argument reminds me of the 30 pieces of silver.
Peter Manktelow, Norwood.
TAMAR ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
PAM Allan of UTAS (The Examiner, January 3) is missing a vital point - and in doing so fails to see how Launceston and the Tamar are at risk. She speaks about the merits of an agreement to negotiate with the city of Rotterdam in regard to the off-loading of Green Hydrogen in Europe.
Rotterdam has "... a rich cultural and intellectual awareness and a very global outlook on current environmental issues".
Closer to home we are in danger of disastrously missing an opportunity to clean up the Tamar's mud, 30 kilometres of weed-infestation, and flood protection for Invermay.
A decision is about to be made whether water for the Hydrogen project comes from a 50-kilometre industrial pipeline from Trevallyn Lake - or from a lake formed just beyond the Batman Bridge by the natural flow of Tamar waters.
The industrial pipeline won't do anything for the Tamar's environmental challenges. We will continue to be stuck with the mud, the weeds and the flood risk. Please Pam, we mean no disrespect for Rotterdam and your otherwise illuminating article. However, we live in fear of the process yet to be chosen by the hydrogen industry and the government.
Where the hydrogen is off-loaded in Europe is ultimately optional, ongoing degradation of the Tamar is not.
Andrew Lovitt, Tamar Action Group member.
RAT KITS FREE OVERSEAS
ON one hand we have Scott Morrison saying "You can't just make everything free" after stating that RAT kits won't be free for all Australians, and, at the same time, the federal Treasurer stating that with jobs returning, our economy is recovering well. If our economy is so robust, why can't Australia provide free RAT kits? In the UK, their NHS not only provides these kits free but mails them to your home! And their economy is in a much worse state than ours. France and Germany also provide free kits. Clearly Scott Morrison is totally out of touch with the situation and needs to reverse his decision immediately. So long as we have to pay for these kits, then the queues for the PCR tests, which are free, will continue to grow. I thought the editorial (The Examiner, January 4) was excellent and it speaks for many.
Finally, I totally agree with Jason Herrmann's letter (The Examiner, January 4) that returning citizens should always be allowed into Tasmania with proper hotel quarantine.
