Lockdowns are just delaying the inevitable thelancet.com/journals/lance…
There is very little we can do to prevent this spread: a lockdown might delay severe cases for a while, but once restrictions are eased, cases will reappear.
I expect that when we count the number of deaths from COVID-19 in each country in 1 year from now, the figures will be similar, regardless of measures taken.
Measures to flatten the curve might have an effect, but a lockdown only pushes the severe cases into the future —it will not prevent them.
Admittedly, countries have managed to slow down spread so as not to overburden health-care systems, and, yes, effective drugs that save lives might soon be developed, but this pandemic is swift, and those drugs have to be developed, tested, and marketed quickly.
Much hope is put in vaccines, but they will take time, and with the unclear protective immunological response to infection, it is not certain that vaccines will be very effective.
In summary, COVID-19 is a disease that is highly infectious and spreads rapidly through society.
In summary, COVID-19 is a disease that is highly infectious and spreads rapidly through society.
It is often quite symptomless and might pass unnoticed, but it also causes severe disease and even death in a proportion of the population, and our most important task is not to stop spread, which is all but futile, but to concentrate on giving unfortunate victims optimal care.
