Covid-19: half measures will never break the chain of infection | Letters

Strategies to stop transmission routes of coronavirus must include schools, writes Phil Moorfoot, while Daniel Nucinkis says the government's rejection of Sage's proposals will cost thousands of lives. Plus letters from Prof Saville Kushner and Cllr Robert Knowles

Even Keir Starmer is not averse to the Boris factor when referring to circuit breakers" (Keir Starmer urges PM to impose circuit breaker' lockdown on England, 13 October). A mini-lockdown that leaves schools open defeats the whole strategy. Pre-summer, we saw images of classrooms with tiny groups of students socially distancing and wearing masks. Unfortunately, the reality is quite different: up to 30 students in a poorly ventilated room with no social distancing, existing in a bubble of over 100 students.

The current strategy from ministers is to prevent community transmission, but they are forgetting the elephant in the room. At the heart of all communities, you have schools. It is no surprise that Covid cases increased as schools and colleges returned from the summer break. Students do not socially distance or stay in year-group bubbles as they commute to and from school. Once home, they mix with siblings and parents. This is where community transmission takes place.