WHY is it so difficult for some people to understand about keeping your distance and always wearing a mask when entering shops?

Apart from a very few actual medical conditions there is absolutely no excuse whatsoever, especially with this new more dangerous strain of coronavirus.

No one should ever be able to obtain an exemption certificate from anywhere other than through a medical practice or hospital and this should always only be legal if accompanied by a document with proof of legality - and certainly not be able to be bought over the internet which is very easily the case at the moment.

Two members of my family work in a large supermarket in different departments on the shop floor and once again one of them has tested positive to the virus therefore having to self-isolate at home.

They live in the same house and use the same car each time to travel to and from work and have not been anywhere apart from the supermarket for weeks so obviously the only place where they have come into contact with other people is at work.

There is certainly no reason for whole families of adults plus children to need to go shopping together at all as quite often happens in supermarkets at the moment .

If only one person in that family can speak English or holds the purse strings then that person is the one who should do the shopping with a list provided and certainly the children should either be at home with the other parent or be in the car with them until the shopping is done.

In the case of single parent families of which there are many at the moment then all children accompanying them of school age and above should be wearing a mask and staying with the trolley or in the case of pre school children and babies should be either in or holding onto the trolley, and not be allowed to run all over the place by themselves which I have seen quite often lately.

All supermarkets should have security staff on duty in the entrance and forbid anyone not wearing a mask to enter unless with a legal exemption card - two supermarket chains have already agreed to this so why cannot the other big stores do the same if it will save lives at the risk of losing a few customers.

With the introduction of full visor face masks attached round the head now easily available even people who need to lip read can do so with no problem so anyone not wanting the nose or mouth covered can very easily wear one of these without causing concern to themselves.

The only way to take every precaution and consider other people is to wear a mask and keep a safe distance to safeguard themselves and others and then hopefully we will eventually come through this epidemic before too many more innocent lives are lost.

H Lewis

Chandlers Ford