With regards to Boris Johnson’s trip to Hexham hospital, the website of the Northumbria NHS foundation trust has advice for those wishing to visit (Boris Johnson seen maskless in hospital as cases among MPs rise, 8 November). To paraphrase, visiting should be kept to a minimum, and masks must be worn when entering the hospital.

What was so necessary that Johnson, and presumably a large retinue of advisers and security personnel, had to travel from London to the hospital? Was anything concrete achieved or learned from the visit? What was so vital that required a large number of people to walk around the hospital?

“Wear a mask when you enter the hospital”: it’s hard to be clearer than that isn’t it? I’d imagine the vast majority of the electorate would take it as read that this statement not only applies to the act of entering the hospital, but also in fact to the state of being in the hospital, and therefore wearing a mask for the whole of your visit. So what was the prime minister doing there? And why was he not wearing a mask for the entire duration of his visit? Even if none of the above registers, he’s in a hospital. All the doctors and nurses are wearing masks. It’s completely incomprehensible behaviour.
I wonder how the relatives of the dying who are unable to visit feel when looking at those pictures.