[ArboriaInstitut]

Do any of the epidemiologists/virologists who are saying this offer any thoughts as to why SARS-CoV-2 and the immune response to it are so different from every other novel virus which has emerged in the past? Is there any precedent at all for "a virus which reinfects you over and over with no reduction in lethality/sequelae from the repeat infections"?

[sandworm101]

Yes. Flu. Constant (yearly) reinfection by slightly different variants with near-similar mortality regardless of previous variant exposure.

[resoluteteeth]

What if these sequalae aren't different from other coronaviruses?

[ArboriaInstitut]

Then obviously something else would have to be the main cause of the bump in excess deaths that's been observed.

[eastbound]

Lockdowns. It’s the only coronavirus we’ve treated by asking everyone to stay home. The impact on being healthy (sports, sun exposure, happiness) is huge.

[ajross]

> so different from every other novel virus which has emerged in the past

There's only one novel pandemic to study every century or so. I don't think there's any evidence at all that it's "so different". It's just better studied because in 1918 only a handful of scientists even knew that "viruses" existed.