As time wears on it is becoming much of a norm to see younger people opting to go out again and try to have a normal routine, this however places them at a higher risk of catching the lethal coronavirus. NHS, SAGE, warns that letting young people go back to normal life while opting to protect and shield the elderly will only have bad consequences for the rest of the population.
According to leaked documents that were given to ministers last week, an advisory panel gave out suggestions saying letting young people get back to going to bars and night clubs was not a feasible option because it would drive up hospitalizations due to the lethal coronavirus and put an immense burden on hospitals. This is their opinion is not feasible.
They believe it is impossible to control contact between people coming from different age groups therefore even small slips are given; a large toll of infections will be at our door.
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Herd immunity strategies are also ruled out of the question by top epidemiologists because they warn that an uncontrolled epidemic among the young would put pressure on the health services.
They also emphasized that about a quarter of all hospital cases during the first coronavirus wave were below the number of 60. Strategies to shield residents of care homes also failed miserably and during the first wave, the fiasco ended with above 20,000 deaths which further strengthen their arguments.
But another problem that has arisen is the fact that scientists are conflicted on the issue, while some oppose it, almost 11,000 medical and public health experts are backing the call for herd immunity by Barrington Declaration that insists that ministers stop imposing lockdown restrictions and instead let people out.
According to the declaration, people who are least susceptible to the lethal coronavirus should be able to live normally and in doing so they should be able to develop sufficient immunity to the virus through the infection that will take place naturally. During this time they say the most vulnerable however should be protected and shielded from infection.
This comes right after a King’s College London study discovered that at least 1 in 10 people younger than the age of 50 would suffer ‘long COVID’ which is a condition that plagues coronavirus sufferers long after they recover. The condition consists of pains in the chest, breathing problems, and a constant feeling of chronic fatigue.
SAGE already disagrees with the strategy of segregating age groups because in their eyes it is a strategy that will fail.
They add that a very significant part of the population would need to stop their everyday life for several months if this were allowed to continue, doing this would also place immense pressure on the NHS and it is a huge risk considering the long-term side-effects of being infected are still not correctly known.
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They also explain that they do not know yet that long-term immunity could even occur after being infected with the virus and even if a large portion of the younger generation achieves significant levels of immunity, another epidemic wave will take place once the segregation is lifted.
Top scientists also dismiss the possibilities of placing parts of the population into segregation.
The government, therefore, stands steadfast on the belief that segregating younger people from older people in terms of restrictions is a venture that is only bound to fail.
