Dear Editor,
My local coffee shop installed plexiglass dividers a month ago. I asked them why, especially at this stage of the pandemic? They said that Food and Hygiene officials had been around to insist they install dividers or be closed down.
Now, I wonder. Two months ago the WHO and CDC were already advising that "the science"— which we are assured guides our enlightened government — told us that the Covid coronavirus is spread through the air. Plexiglass dividers are no use in stopping its spread. Some studies show they may impede airflow and increase the risk of infection. Ventilation is much more important.
So why on earth is our government wasting resources forcing our hard-hit F&B outlets to waste more money on useless plastic? It's not like we need more plastic in the world!
Harvard public health professor Joseph Allen calls this sort of thing "hygiene theatre".
Surely it's time for the curtain to come down on this pantomime.
In the name of science!
Pf, etc...
