Coronavirus or Covid-19 is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It is a viral disease that turned into a pandemic in early 2020. The first known case was recorded in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Coronavirus has multiple variants such as Delta and Omicron, and its most common symptoms are fever, chills and sore throat.
This discussion between The Prints’s writers is devoid of any understanding of herd immunity.
To say a population has herd immunity at least 70% need to be resistant.
Without a vaccine or at a minimum an effective anti-viral no country is ready to go back to pre-C19 practices .
Removing physical distancing norms is a prescription for disaster- case in point Sweden’s effort to build herd immunity.
Herd immunity should not be viewed as an aim to be achieved; it should be more of a consequence of actions which have to be necessarily taken at this stage to keep the economy moving towards recovery and progress.
Here the individuals (each Indian) should take the responsibility for his safety and for the safety of those he comes in contact – guidelines like social distancing, hygiene, masks, hand washing etc. are all well known to all.
Thinking out of the box and temporary hardships are inevitable (3 to 6 months). For instance – Yes, there is a problem where most Indian houses are a bit small for a home. Methods may have to be devised within communities to segregate the non-working vulnerable people.
It is not only the Governments, people will also have to come up with ideas – ther is just nor solution, where one size will fit all…
Unless we are digging in for a very long lockdown, this untested theory does not commend itself for adoption in India. The young will almost certainly bring the virus home, exposing their older family members to risk. With 80% cases asymptomatic, transmission would take place unnoticed within families. A better approach would be to open up the country geographically, with cities like Bombay among the last places to exit the lockdown. It is almost certain now that some climatic / genetic / other natural factors – not lighting candles, though – are helping us stand up to the virus.