[nostromo]

It appears Seattle may have "flattened the curve" too much as new cases have flatlined.

Sounds good!? But healthy young people aren't building up antibodies.

Which means when we end social distancing, the virus will start spreading just like it did before.

The goal here isn't to prevent everyone from getting it. The goal is to slowly build up heard immunity, in a way that doesn't overly burden the healthcare system, and to hopefully learn some new treatments along the way.

https://depts.washington.edu/uwviro/

[tempestn]

Building up herd immunity without overwhelming the hospital system would take years. Instead we need to prevent spread as much as possible while testing is ramped up. Once we have free, fast, widespread testing, we can remove restrictions without risking new outbreaks, because new cases will be caught quickly.

[xyzzy_plugh]

I am not so sure herd immunity is a goal. The idea is indeed to avoid overrunning the healthcare system, with an expectation that we can get the majority of the population successfully through the system. It's not well-known that we'll build even short term immunity, let alone long to medium term immunity.

If new cases flatline, that's good! If we can avoid everyone getting it, that's even better! If the globe can get a handle on things, we don't need to solely consider worst-case scenarios.

[shadowgovt]

It is likely possible to engineer a vaccine for this virus. If we can social distance long enough to get that out, people's lives are saved.