I’m not quite that sure I’m right. (I was genuinely asking about the mechanism, not claiming there isn’t one!) I am not an expert and there are other epidemics that die out without having infected most of the population, like indeed seasonal flu and cold, and I don’t know all the causes of that that might apply here.
End result will be less casualties but longer pandemic.
It could be worse; ‘less overall casualties’ relies on the reasonable but unproven assumptions of:
Reliable natural immunization, i.e. people won’t (often) catch it twice
Few or no mutations that act as a ‘second wave’ or in the extreme case like the seasonal flu that happens every year
(Most) people with light/no symptoms don’t end up with long term complications, or a persistent virus that can reactivate later
I’m not quite that sure I’m right. (I was genuinely asking about the mechanism, not claiming there isn’t one!) I am not an expert and there are other epidemics that die out without having infected most of the population, like indeed seasonal flu and cold, and I don’t know all the causes of that that might apply here.
It could be worse; ‘less overall casualties’ relies on the reasonable but unproven assumptions of:
Reliable natural immunization, i.e. people won’t (often) catch it twice
Few or no mutations that act as a ‘second wave’ or in the extreme case like the seasonal flu that happens every year
(Most) people with light/no symptoms don’t end up with long term complications, or a persistent virus that can reactivate later