Re:New Zealand PM: No open borders for 'a long time'
by LeifCarrotson on Wednesday May 06, 2020 @03:52PM
(#23095532)
Herd immunity isn't a thing for coronavirus yet.
Herd immunity only works when you have an effective vaccine/treatment, and it only helps the people who aren't eligible for that treatment. Given the coronavirus R0, you might achieve herd immunity when 75% of the population has been infected. Achieving herd immunity by letting the virus slowly spread until 0.5% or 1% of your people to die is a loss condition, that's millions of deaths. It's certainly better than letting it spread like wildfire and overwhelm hospitals so that 5% of your people die, no question there, but still not good.
Re:New Zealand PM: No open borders for 'a long time'
by procinct on Wednesday May 06, 2020 @05:37PM
(#23096609)
Not indefinite lock down, but tight border controls. There are only a couple of hundred active cases in NZ currently. We are looking at exiting from our stricter lockdown next week.
Herd immunity only works when you have an effective vaccine/treatment, and it only helps the people who aren't eligible for that treatment. Given the coronavirus R0, you might achieve herd immunity when 75% of the population has been infected. Achieving herd immunity by letting the virus slowly spread until 0.5% or 1% of your people to die is a loss condition, that's millions of deaths. It's certainly better than letting it spread like wildfire and overwhelm hospitals so that 5% of your people die, no question there, but still not good.