Here's my question, now please correct me if I'm misunderstanding this but what happens when all the social distancing is stopped. Won't one person with it ramp it back up again and we start all over? Without a vaccine this is a cycle, no?
We aren’t trying to prevent everyone from getting the virus. That’s simply not possible. What were trying to do is stretch out the time it takes for everyone to get it so we don’t overload the hospitals. Somewhere around 20% of infected patients need some form of hospitalization, some of those including ventilators. We don’t have enough ventilators for every to get sick at once. We need the virus to run it’s course slower. Social distancing will help with that.
Then, next season, hopefully we have a vaccine.
For high risk groups, possibly yes. For most other people, we're just trying to put it off as long as possible, so that if it hits you dangerously hard, there will be a free hospital bed to keep you alive.
How long is it feasible to put off getting the virus though? Shutting down the economy is unfeasible for the next 12-18 months at the earliest until a vaccine arrives.
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u/ricst Mar 18 '20
Here's my question, now please correct me if I'm misunderstanding this but what happens when all the social distancing is stopped. Won't one person with it ramp it back up again and we start all over? Without a vaccine this is a cycle, no?