If Australia were to lift all restrictions in the pursuit of herd immunity we should expect cycling epidemics of COVID-19, increased absenteeism, and ultimately more deaths, one of Australia's leading pandemic experts has warned.
Infectious disease expert Professor Raina MacIntyre issued the warning on Tuesday in a COVID-19 pandemic update at the University of NSW's Kirby Institute – the first to collate data from international medical journals and universities since the disease was identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019.
But Professor McIntyre's comments follow days of public debate about whether the economic hardships caused by Australia's current restrictions, implemented to protect the elderly and vulnerable, impact too heavily on the young and healthy. "If this were influenza I'd be closing schools but all the data seems to suggest this infection is very uncommon in the under 15 age group, schools are probably one of the safest workplaces you can go," he said.
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