Interesting that Man911 seems to be of the mindset that we’ve had covid_19 since forever and it is here to stay , but I don’t really get it
there are multiple coronaviruses already known to affect humans and this has been the case for centuries if not millenia. theyre mostly associated to the common cold so not that dangerous
however coronaviruses like SARS, MERS an SARS-CoV-2 (which causes COVID-19) have only been recently introduced in human populations due to encroachment on wildlife
because the entire human population has never been exposed until now to SARS-CoV-2 everybody is at risk of being infected. fortunately most people wont die from it but still because the virus is more pathogenic that the flu, more people are expected to require hospitalization and even going to icu
its unlikely at this point that globally well be able to contain the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 like what happened with SARS in 2003. there are now just too many countries where the virus can be found, some of them with very basic health care systems like for example most african countries. so the virus is probably going to be circulating for good in the human population
the entire strategy behind physical distancing is meant to slow the spread enough that the health care system wont be completely overwhelmed like what happened in wuhan in the early stages, and now in italy or in new york. hospitals are getting hit so hard that the staff gets infected as well and the health care system collapses. thats what we're trying to avoid
maybe well be able to slow the spread enough to get a chance for a vaccine to be developed (timeline uncertain, and so far the science seems to indicate that the immunity developed post-infection is weakly protective) or maybe a treatment that may help people suffering from the most severe forms of COVID-19
