And so, according the respected deputy chief medical officer for England, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, we are at a ‘tipping point’ in fighting the deadly virus Covid-19.

Just how well a not inconsiderable number of people fail to take on board the important and very necessary medical advice can be evidenced by travelling on public transport and shopping in supermarkets and stores.

I recently took a bus journey to Welwyn. Several young school pupils got onto the bus without wearing face masks, totally nonplussed at the importance of the safety of others. A man and a woman got on, both initially not wearing the legally-required face mask. The man was asked to put on his mask which he did without covering his nose. He subsequently ate a Kit-Kat and excused himself for lowering the mask in consequence. Minutes later he suffered uncontrollable coughing and hacking created, he claimed, by eating the confectionery.

In a Welwyn department store I witnessed a woman viewing dresses. She suddenly sneezed, not by turning her head away but directly exposing potential germs to the clothing. When challenged she denied the act, witnessed by several people besides myself.

Riding the London Underground is, without doubt, a risky business. Once on the trains the masks are often lowered, with little concern for others. There are, of course, those who wear no coverings at all, with questionable excuses for such behaviour.

Other venues witness, all too clearly, a similar lack of public awareness.

We are at a ‘tipping point’ not because of a natural phenomenon but because of human actions. The deadly virus that now confronts us is no respecter of indifferent and ignorant behaviour.

Several commentators have made the observation that it is typically such people who enabled Brexit to be delivered. It would be churlish of me to disagree.

Francis Durham,

Shepherds Way, Rickmansworth