Old Twister wrote:
If the young people carry on as they are then it will be a lot quicker to get herd immunity. I agree totally that elderly people and the infirm have to be protected (I'm one of them) but if we don't get herd immunity this virus will never stop circulating and threatening us all with every chance that it will become a lot more serious by mutating.
Sadly ...we are absolutely no where near herd immunity in any country
Billions world wide have not had the virus yet
There sadly are a lot more deaths to come
Even in Cyprus....only a tiny percentage of our 1 million people have yet had the virus
And we are an elderly, infirm, population! Just over 1000 confirmed cases out of a million plus is a drop in the ocean ...we need 800,000 to have had it for herd immunity here in Cyprus!
I do believe that in the uk herd immunity is still what the uk government has been trying also to do...whilst shielding as many elderly and infirm as they can ...yet they also are no where near to herd immunity ...they need over 55 million plus to have had it
People keep quoting Sweden as a place that let the virus develop...yet per capita in their region of the world they have lost far more lives than other countries around them...and they still are no where near to herd immunity
For herd immunity we need 80% of the billions of people around the world to have had the virus
So far they are saying 20 million have officially had the virus ...even with 60 plus millions having been infected if you add those that have had it and not been tested ....we are all still at the very beginning of this pandemic
Lockdowns, handwashing, masks wearing , distancing is all being used as ways to stop hospitals for the 5% who will become extremely ill.... to not over run the hospitals as happened in Spain and Italy...as soon as a country is over capacity for health care ...then unneeded death numbers will sadly increase of people who could have lived with proper health care had it been available
Medicines and treatments are being found and used to good effect as scientists and drs world wide try to come to grip with trying to save as many lives and the many complications of covid 19 as possible
And although young people think that they are invincible..many young people sadly have had terrible covid 19 illnesses as well as elderly and infirm people....although to lesser numbers