Notwithstanding the way the Chinese authorities permit the cruel treatment of animals in such places as open-air markets throughout China, this being the likely cause of the virus Covid-19, there are clear implications for hygiene, as practised, throughout the UK.

We are quite rightly being told to wash our hands frequently. For many men this is anathema. I witness frequently, at Rickmansworth station, men having used the urinal or worse still, having come out of the cubicles without exercising their hands in soap and water. One subsequently has to touch door handles and train facilities used by such people.

Riding the London Transport trains presents further hazards. How often do I witness men picking their noses and then of course using hand rails that everybody in turn will use.

Clearly it is a totally foreign concept to suggest an individual should cough or sneeze into their elbows, rather than their hands, as such action again lessens the likelihood of spreading germs.

There are countless further examples of the macho approach to hygiene and it must be recognised parents have a role to play in educating their children.

Understandably there are worrying implications for changing individuals’ behaviour.

If it appears I am suggesting that men are probably worse than women regarding upkeep of hygiene, then I stand by that accusation but I am well aware, through my female contacts, that women have nothing to be smug about.

In conclusion, I find it interesting that our Conservative government is acting like a ‘nanny state’ in telling citizens what they must and should do to stop the spread of Covid-19. But then of course that is precisely what governments should and must do!

Francis Durham

Shepherds Way, Rickmansworth