Slowing down the spread

Siena

Im bit confused. 

There is no vaccination for it and it can takes 18 months to make one , so i read? So the the whole lock down is to slow the spread so less pressure on the NHS and its a slower spread and more likely to get treatment if slower cause less people in hospital

So then that mean we will all get it. Espically when lock down gets lifted will slowly increase again to the point the nhs can handle bit better. 

So we will all get it? But with more chance hospital treatment- Its just about if we surivie it or not?

Former Member

I also heard this on the news and to be honest as a student studying Biomedical Science, I feel like this is slightly inaccurate. Lockdown helps to flatten the curve ( meaning that a smaller number of people get it over a larger period of time, rather than a large number of people in a short period of time). This definitely means there is less pressure on the NHS at one time, which is a good thing. Lockdown also however stops the spread of the virus, I don’t know if you’ve seen the images on the news, but if less people go outside, it spreads less, so in 30 days only 15 people may be infected instead of 400 (for example). 

I personally am interpreting this as we won’t all get it, particularly if people follow the lockdown, as the point of lockdown is to slow the spread, so less people have it and therefore you are less likely to get it. Just by flattening the curve and extending the period of time in which people are getting it, it would put less pressure on the NHS, which also in a way increase people’s chance of survival as there will be more ventilators and equipment available to use. 

 I hope this makes sense x

Siena

Oh thank you. But it ain't going to go away just cause of the lockdown. I know less likely but still likely. Like i read if one person get is they infect up to about 4 people. Then those four people will infect others ect then just ALl going to get it again. I read that you can get it more than once too cause the anti body doesnt last very long. When lock down Is realised surely people are just going to get infected and spread again really quickly. And be lucky if never get it

Unless stay in lockdown till vaccination but doubt it. And i doubt it will slow down because of the heat/summer

 idk if what i said is true. Could be fake news or something but i think it's just the reality of it all

Azziman

In short, the point of the lockdown is to slow the spread. That way, the virus infects less people at any one time (as it's contagious, social distancing etc means you come into contact with less people. That buys us time to create a vaccine (of which several are in the pipeline thanks to a new, faster process), but also allows us to reduce the pressure on the NHS at any one time. That's where the term 'smooth the curve' comes in - preventing a spike means the NHS can cope with all the cases.

Former Member

I agree with Aidan that people who have tested positive might not have necessarily caught it twice. In response to a virus your body produces different types of antibodies, one straight after you get a virus to help you fight it off and another that get produced a few days later which remains in your blood to help you fight off future infections. So people who have been tested again after they have stopped showing symptoms may still have antibodies for the virus, but not actually have the disease. 

Although I believe that some people have actually caught it twice this could be for many different reasons, like they did not produce enough antibodies to fight off the disease a second time or that they caught a different strain of the virus (like in flu, hence why there is a different vaccine each year to help fight the new strain). Although I don’t think people know exactly what is causing some people to get it twice yet. 

I also agree that hopefully it will die out without a vaccine and we can all get back to normal sooner rather than later. At the end of the day, everything is so uncertain which can be hard as we don’t know what is going to happen. If we remember to follow lockdown and all the advice of the government we should lower our chances of getting it. I hope you stay safe x

Siena

Oh thank you for help! Idk why i still keep coming to the conclusion we will all get it lots of times until it kills us all. But your comments make more sense

Former Member

When a lock down is lifted it won't go back to normal life immediately, we would still need to wash our hands, not touch our face and practice social distancing. That way the number of people who get it will be less than without the measures. After a lock down the hospitals will presumably have more space, equipment and less exhausted staff that can take care of the new patients. If there is a medicine found or created before the vaccine this will also help. People will recover more and spend less time in hospital.

I don't think all people will get it. We just need to limit the infections and spread it out over a longer period of time, so they can get more efficient care, and in the meantime a vaccine will be created vor everyone.