YOUR SAY: Border Mail letters to the editor

We should also ventilate our homes and workplaces more with fresh air to reduce the airborne virus numbers knowing the COVID-19 virus can live in suspended water droplets for up to three hours.

This actually has been standard practice for many years but we have become very complacent in modern times relying on drugs and the healthcare system to correct our own lack of concern. I now point to our public transport services, taxis, buses, trains, planes and ships.

In modern times these do not get properly cleaned between destinations. It is herding people off then herding them on in the shortest turnaround time to save money and increase profits. We are being put at risk of catching a bacterial or viral infection because of this business greed. We must demand proper cleaning of our public transport services.

More importantly there is the matter of cafes and restaurants, again to save the establishment money we see cutlery exposed to passing trade stuck in little buckets or boxes to help ourselves along with serviettes and water glasses. This practice is of high risk to spreading any bacterial or viral infection as the items are not policed by staff.

Some restaurants even have the plates sitting on tables for anyone to infect. Hospitals and health facilities have trained cleaners to protect the public when entering those facilities, it is time our businesses and service providers invested in similar practices.

The upshot of this pandemic is that, if the Ruby Princess is litigated and is forced to pay out, then this will have wider implications for all businesses if it can be proven they were not sufficiently cleaned to protect the public health.

It is high time to not just wipe items over with a wet cloth but to employ proper cleaners with proper cleaning agents to kill either bacteria or viruses as they are different.

Even before the onset of the coronavirus, Virgin was teetering on collapse so why should the Australian taxpayer bail them out by heaven forbid taking part ownership. It is perfectly fine for the government to provide financial assistance for Virgin to continue to service the few remaining travellers on routes not serviced by other airlines but to take part ownership is a big no no.

After all, the major shareholders in Virgin Etihad, Singapore airlines etc are not willing stump up funds so why should Australia? It is a basic principle that governments should only use taxpayers money to support industries that are going to survive and thrive, not those about to fail.

Post the pandemic when life hopefully returns to some degree of normality, demand for airline seats will pick up and another airline - possibly even a resurrected and re-financed Virgin - will see a business opportunity to meet that demand.

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