October 13,2020

Anna Murray 

Most recently the global number of confirmed infection cases of COVID-19 disease has seen a drastic increase across Europe, including the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland, and the UK. Meanwhile, many countries are considering installing the herd immunity strategy to avoid the 2nd wave of Coronavirus outbreak. Citizens and governments in some countries are opposing painful lockdown and social distancing. They propose to let the coronavirus circulate in the population in order to build up herd immunity so that the majority of the population is infected and leave fewer and fewer new victims for the coronavirus to spread further out.

On the contrary, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), argued on October 12 in a press statement in Geneva that in the history of public health, herd immunity had never been used to stem a virus outbreak. In addition, Tedros warned that the herd immunity was “scientifically and ethically problematic”. He suggested that preventing amplifying events, isolation and testing are more effective methods. 

To protect people from the Coronavirus pandemic, China announced on October 13 to launch a sweeping test drive over 9.4 million city residents of Qingdao, after a noticeable rise in COVID-19 infection cases on October 11. Chinese officials intend to finish nucleic testing in the entire Qingdao city by October 15.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump returned on October 12 to his presidential campaign trail after taking COVID-19 treatment for 10 days. Scott Atlas, a neuroradiologist appointed to the Coronavirus task force in Trump’s administration, who has been championing a new herd immunity strategy for American people. Nevertheless, critics warned that Atlas has suppressed or altered information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and his herd immunity strategy may undermine the US's past and present efforts in stopping an incipient winter wave.

Photo:Webshot.