Getting recreation and leisure up and running again.

Indeed herd immunity will take for ever at 3- 5% infected rates, and slow spread. . Its the vaccine we need , and you would hope that with so many vaccines , based on alternative approaches one will work, even if like flu you need regular top ups. the other possibility is that one of the medical blocking treatments can be taken before infection.

Theatre faces specific problems according to some of the research on spread coming out, if its right. This theory, based on tracing the path of transmission via genetic testing of the virus in different victims ,  suggest that most spread has been by relatively few people in specific situations. Meet outside in sunshine and with normal airflow and your chances of the virus spreading to you go down by a factor of 17. Put the same people in an enclosed space indoors and you have a problem. Add on activity that creates expelled air and viral particles with some force behind them  - in the form of loud speaking , singing, or, heavy ,exercise induced, breathing, and you end up with complete choirs and exercise classes  going down with covid19. That argues for social distancing to be maintained at a strong level in theatres,  which may be impractical and uneconomic, and as the letter to the  telegraph points out incompatible with the  plot on stage. 

There's also the practicalities. Much of a winter audience have coughs- whose going to sit in a room of coughing people? Transport into Cities will be limited by distancing, so how does much of the  audience reliably get there? Public toilets are usually unpleasant, and in confined airless spaces , but how does an audience survive without one? How do you exit and enter without forming a crowd inside or outside? And how can you make the money add up with no tourists and social distancing shredding seat numbers?

Basically, you need government to step in and keep things together until they can reopen again. The medium to long term economics clearly support that. And in the meantime you need to think of something for actors, who tend to be bright, capable, people  to do  filling in gaps in sectors like  education and other public services.

There's also  more that could be  offered on line. Those of us who know who we think is good, and would pay to see or listen to them on line,  would be  happy to see more online concerts, or even plays. The problem is that we don't really have enough knowledge in the  potential audience  audience of who is good,or whats available online ,  Its much easier to produce one of the brilliant collaborative covers  of one song than  something longer, and the economics are against producers putting the  effort in for what may be too small a return.