A new study has found a one-off coronavirus lockdown won't be enough to beat the infection, with social distancing measures possibly needed until 2022.
“What seems to be necessary in the absence of other sorts of treatments are intermittent social distancing periods,” he told reporters.READ MOREBut in their absence, on and then off distancing would give hospitals time to increase critical care capacity to cater for the surge in cases that would occur when the measures are eased.
Under one modelled scenario"the social distancing was so effective that virtually no population immunity is built".The authors acknowledged a major drawback in their model was how little we currently know about how strong a previously infected person's immunity is and how long it lasts. The team said it was highly unlikely that immunity will be strong enough and last long enough that COVID-19 will die out after an initial wave, as was the case with the SARS outbreak of 2002-2003."It is important to recognise that it is a model. It is consistent with current data but is nonetheless based on a series of assumptions - for example about acquired immunity - that are yet to be confirmed.
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