The data are now overwhelming, from here in the U.S. and all around the world, that this infection is a grave threat to the elderly and chronically ill, but generally mild for younger, generally healthy people, said Katz in an interview.

Its also clear that many of the worried projections about social determinants of health and the consequences of mass unemployment are confirmed. We have, indeed, seen rising rates of addiction, domestic violence and mental duress.

We also know much more now, Katz continued, about the risks of exposure. This virus is not transmitted all that easily. Many people with transient, ordinary exposures dont get infected because of low exposure dose, partial resistance to this pathogen, or both.

All of this provides actionable intelligence, Katz argued. We can and must do a far better job of protecting the frail and elderly, especially in nursing homes, and all of those with serious chronic disease, he said. Then the rest of us can go about our business, but with policies in place to regulate any interactions we might have with higher-risk people, so we protect them, and with reasonable precautions for our own sakes, like wearing masks, practicing social distancing and avoiding crowded indoor settings, that limit exposure to high doses of coronavirus and our ability to pass it along.

We also can see now with cases spiking in locations around the country that did not experience an early wave of infection and are now opening up haphazardly how right it was to warn about the dangers of just flattening the curve without a risk-stratification strategy, added Katz. A flattened curve delays cases, it does not prevent them, because no immunity has been developed.

To get back to normalcy requires widespread immunity to the coronavirus, which happens in only two ways.

One is a vaccine that is safe, effective, mass produced and universally distributed. That would be the best solution, and God willing, a vaccine will come in the fall and everyone can get back to work safely in subsequent months. But it may not, and we cant just keep the economy on hold.

Excerpt from:

Is Trump Trying to Spread Covid-19? - The New York Times