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Old July 21, 2020, 10:48 PM
Dien Rice Dien Rice is offline
Onwards and upwards!
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,358
Default Can we get out of this without a vaccine?

I think we can... though it's not easy...

New Zealand is one example. They've virtually eliminated the coronavirus. To try to keep it that way, they don't let any non-New Zealanders into the country, and those who do come in, have to quarantine...

As I understand it, New Zealand has lifted all Covid-19 restrictions now... Life is pretty much back to normal now.

How did they do it?

All the recommended ways... Social distancing, washing hands, staying at home, closing non-essential stores, closing restaurants, etc. For around two months I think. And closing their borders...

(They didn't require masks, because I don't think those were recommended as of yet at the time... But they were super-strict on everything else...)

As long as they keep the borders closed, and quarantine any people coming in (only New Zealanders can enter), they can probably keep things normal for as long as they want...

The second example is Japan...

They never closed stores... In fact, in most ways, they were more relaxed than many countries...

They did close schools. Schools are open now, but kids attend on alternate days, and each class on each day is only half full compared to before, with social distancing in place...

How did Japan do it?

They took a different path than New Zealand.

They didn't close stores and restaurants...

But everyone wore masks. Even in school now, kids and teachers wear masks.

(Japan already had a mask-wearing culture. It is normal in Japan to wear a mask if you have the flu, so you don't transmit it to other people...)

So that is a second way it can work...

Again, I'm pretty sure they can keep this up indefinitely, as long as people in Japan stick to mask-wearing...

I believe there will be an eventual vaccine (and maybe faster than we expect).

But - in the worst case scenario, if there is no vaccine - there are at least two pathways back to something like "normality"... the New Zealand way, or the Japanese way...

They've already proven it.

So I strongly believe there's hope!

Best wishes,

Dien
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