Masks aren’t useless – they are a vital defence against Covid this winter and should be mandatory again

Letters to the editor: our readers share their views. Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

Transport for London continues to ask passengers to wear face coverings (Reuters)

Your leader on protecting the NHS weakens its case fatally by repeating the misconception that “masks may not have much effect”. It is that attitude (combined with right-wing nonsense about Great British Freedoms being infringed) that has led to a widespread abandoning of masks in crowded public spaces.

Living in the country where the vast majority of customers at our local supermarket still wear masks, I am shocked on rare visits to London at the casual attitude to mask-wearing. Transport for London’s valiant effort to persuade people to wear masks on buses and the Underground has largely failed precisely because it is no longer legally enforceable.

The supposed uselessness of masks is not a view shared by the medical profession. The efficacy of masks and of regular hand-sanitising was confirmed by the fact that last winter saw far fewer colds and flu than in a normal year. These sensible precautions do minimise the spread of germs.