Coronavirus: Use all media to promote public health – The Yorkshire Post says

Telling people to stay at home unless they have “a very good reason” to go out, and to avoid using public transport where possible, Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, spoke for all when he warned: “Ignoring these instructions will cause more people to die.”

And Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick was equally blunt after it emerged that the 1.5 million most vulnerable people will be told to stay at home for 12 weeks. “It is absolutely critical to save lives,” he stressed.

Yet the problem is that the public are not heeding politicians. Even Boris Johnson, a Prime Minister who is very adept at turning slogans to his advantage, is not cutting through.

Here is one solution. All TV companies broadcast the latest health advice on handwashing, social distancing and so on at the start of each TV programme – or on the hour. Sky News is already doing so to an extent, the BBC and terrestrial broadcatsers not.

Radio stations should do likewise – with bespoke ads for social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. And, rather than politicians giving out the advice, ask NHS heroes – such as York nurse Dawn Bilbrough who shamed panic buyers or intensive care doctors – to do so. Or members of the Royal family, church leaders like the Archbishop of York and celebrities. They will be only too willing to join a collective national effort to ease the strain on the NHS.