What if Corona was here to stay? - Thought experiment

[kūhaku]

What do you think the world would be like if Corona was here to stay? What if it became seasonal? We wouldn’t be able to be constantly quarantined, but the word would definitely have to change to account for it. If it’s true that the vaccine may not provide permanent or long term immunity like the common cold, how would the world deal with it? Interested to hear what others think.

To clarify, I’m not entirely concerned whether it’s here to stay or not, more so I just want to speculate what the world might be like if the flu were much more infectious and killed more people.

 

[oldTireWater]

It IS here to stay. Where's it going to go? Maybe we get a flu-like vaccine, maybe not. Time to get on with our lives, and learn to live with slightly higher mortality rates.

 

[Meat Poultry Veg]

We didn't shut down the US economy when Ebola made its way here. If you seriously think this whole shitshow is because of a virus with a pitiful case fatality rate, I've got a container full of aborted baby parts to sell you...

 

[Daddy's Little Kitten]

Corona is the Flu 2.0: Electric Boogaloo.
A vaccine will probably be made for it, but it's here forever.

 

[ConfederateIrishman]

US goes full retard one way or the other.

 

[DumbDude42]

We didn't shut down the US economy when Ebola made its way here. If you seriously think this whole shitshow is because of a virus with a pitiful case fatality rate, I've got a container full of aborted baby parts to sell you...

ebola isn't very contageous. you have to come in direct contact with the blood, piss or shit of a sick (not merely infected, but actually showing symptoms) person to contract it. it was able to spread a bit in african shithole countries because these countries are exactly that: literal shitholes, where things like hygiene and proper sanitation barely exist. but for civilized countries ebola was never a serious concern.

 

[Syaoran Li]

ebola isn't very contageous. you have to come in direct contact with the blood, piss or shit of a sick (not merely infected, but actually showing symptoms) person to contract it. it was able to spread a bit in african shithole countries because these countries are exactly that: literal shitholes, where things like hygiene and proper sanitation barely exist. but for civilized countries ebola was never a serious concern.

True, and another thing about Ebola is that its high fatality rate also limits its spread if you contain the infection quickly. Between the sanitation and quarantine procedures in the First World, any outbreak of Ebola would be contained very quickly and it would burn itself out.

Which is precisely what happened in 2014. Also, Ebola can only be transmitted through bodily fluids while COVID-19 is airborne

This virus is a close relative of the SARS virus from the early 2000's, and while it's less lethal than SARS, it's also a lot more contagious and still very debilitating and downright lethal to a lot of vulnerable groups (the elderly, obese people, people with heart conditions or respiratory issues, those with a weak immune system)

 

[dismissfrogs]

We didn't shut down the US economy when Ebola made its way here. If you seriously think this whole shitshow is because of a virus with a pitiful case fatality rate, I've got a container full of aborted baby parts to sell you...

go adopt a teenager or shut the fuck up, no one cares

 

[Dyn]

Boomers bought up all the houses, gutted the social services, automated all the jobs, and then nearly spite-destroyed the economy because we couldn't afford to pay their rents.

If you think they're not perfectly happy to plunge this world into a post-apocalyptic cannibalistic nightmare hellscape over some flu with a 10% chance of killing them, you don't understand what a selfish parasitic cancer the eternal boomer truly is.

 

[A Cardboard Box]

It doesn't mutate fast enough. There are literally hundreds of strains of the flu which is why so many people get it, even with a vaccine. Every year humanity becomes collectively immune to dozens of flu strains and dozens more pop into existence. Influenza is an extremely quickly mutating virus.

H1N1 didn't become seasonal because it didn't mutate fast enough to be able to reinfect everyone. This will be the same. It will either exhaust people to infect and people will stop getting it or they will develop a vaccine and it will be rolled into flu shots, i.e you'll get 2 shots next time you go get your flu vaccine.

 

[BoingBoingBoi]

i think it's here to stay. we all have to start thinking more about mitigation rather than cure, meaning that the way humans interact will dramatically change long-term. overall, it'll mean more government and corporate control over our lives forever. there will be instant tests for the virus, curfews, mandatory social distancing/hygiene requirements, contact tracing and surveillance apps, IR cameras and thermometers everywhere, and so much more.

china is already doing this, which is why they've been able to "partially" reopen the economy. there's an app that tracks and rates your travel history based on how high-risk an area is. Your rating is red, yellow, or green. red will stop you from basically all transport. yellow means you can probably return home to a yellow area, but you can't leave. green is good. some businesses, especially in currently "green" cities, will check your app before they even let you inside, and if you're red or yellow they probably won't let you in.

americans are gonna have to get used to the fact that the government will have a lot more control over their lives from now on. with this type of virus, there's just no way we'll ever get back to normal. reinfection rates are high. the death rate is high. and the main vehicle of transmission is asymptomatic carriers. the only way to fight it is with data, and governments and tech corporations will have a monopoly on that data and use it to mitigate the spread of the virus by controlling populations.

 

[FuckedUp]

i think it's here to stay. we all have to start thinking more about mitigation rather than cure, meaning that the way humans interact will dramatically change long-term. overall, it'll mean more government and corporate control over our lives forever. there will be instant tests for the virus, curfews, mandatory social distancing/hygiene requirements, contact tracing and surveillance apps, IR cameras and thermometers everywhere, and so much more.

china is already doing this, which is why they've been able to "partially" reopen the economy. there's an app that tracks and rates your travel history based on how high-risk an area is. Your rating is red, yellow, or green. red will stop you from basically all transport. yellow means you can probably return home to a yellow area, but you can't leave. green is good. some businesses, especially in currently "green" cities, will check your app before they even let you inside, and if you're red or yellow they probably won't let you in.

americans are gonna have to get used to the fact that the government will have a lot more control over their lives from now on. with this type of virus, there's just no way we'll ever get back to normal. reinfection rates are high. the death rate is high. and the main vehicle of transmission is asymptomatic carriers. the only way to fight it is with data, and governments and tech corporations will have a monopoly on that data and use it to mitigate the spread of the virus by controlling populations.

All that new Orwellian stuff will be a nightmare for the month before political leaders and Big Tech CEOs start getting assassinated left and right. In Minecraft.

 

[Pepsi-Cola]

it's basically just the flu we just don't have any built up immunity to it (hence why it passes around so quickly and is particularly fatal when compared to other COVID viruses). this isn't plague inc guys you'll be okay.

 

[uncleShitHeel]

Boomers bought up all the houses, gutted the social services, automated all the jobs, and then nearly spite-destroyed the economy because we couldn't afford to pay their rents.

If you think they're not perfectly happy to plunge this world into a post-apocalyptic cannibalistic nightmare hellscape over some flu with a 10% chance of killing them, you don't understand what a selfish parasitic cancer the eternal boomer truly is.

Huh, I unironically agree with Dyn.

 

[Joker 1940]

I’ll go along with your thought experiment.

We (the world), in case of this pandemic becoming uncontrollable, would probably see a reduction in travels, more and more goods would be produced locally which would lead to worsening conditions in poor countries or countries that aren’t able to locally grow the food they need or resource raw materials.

We would probably respond by advancing AI so that it would be possible to ship materials across the world without potential human contamination because rich countries are incapable of sustaining themselves. They need globalism to keep up with their standard of living.

Perhaps we would see an increase in territorial wars, if the world implemented a “travel outside of the country” ban nations could solve that by conquering which would likely just be smaller nations compromising and trying to join the big guys.

Most of the elderly population would die out, including those over 50 perhaps, because hospitals would have to prioritise the young. The kids who are being raised by their grandparents would be at risk and more social services would be needed, adoption between countries would decrease, if not halt completely, resulting in the deaths of these children when social services can’t keep up with the demand.

That would leave a world population of mainly adolescents and adults under 50, in some countries the age span would be significantly less than that. Is that enough to keep the world’s societies going? Perhaps, in all likelihood yes, if people are able to self sustain. The US should actually have some of the best conditions for this due to the amount of land available and preferable climate conditions for many crops and animals.
In that case I suspect the frontiers of Alaska would be great sources of information...

Then again...

Why the fuck am I writing this on a Friday night?

 

[Mexican_Wizard_711]

Boomers bought up all the houses, gutted the social services, automated all the jobs, and then nearly spite-destroyed the economy because we couldn't afford to pay their rents.

If you think they're not perfectly happy to plunge this world into a post-apocalyptic cannibalistic nightmare hellscape over some flu with a 10% chance of killing them, you don't understand what a selfish parasitic cancer the eternal boomer truly is.

Time to behead some boomers with either Ugandan Machete or Old Butterknifle

 

[Tookie]

We'll convert some hospital parking garages into overflow wards for the obese and extremely elderly to go die in while the rest of us go on with our lives.

 

[737 MAX Stan Account]

She can stay as long as she keeps meeting her daily dead brown people quota

 

[FunPosting101]

If the Wu-Flu becomes endemic, which seems likely at this point based on some of the stuff I've been reading, what will happen is that people will wind up getting a yearly coronavirus shot in addition to their yearly flu shot. Furthermore, you will also see increased manufacture of various anti-viral medications to deal with it as well as increased manufacture of various anti-bacterial medications to deal with various secondary infections. There will be no permanent isolation, nor will there be a mass die-off of the elderly and the unhealthy.

Basically, life will go on, because we have big brains that allowed us to invent things like modern medicine.

 

[Bum Driller]

If the Wu-Flu becomes endemic, which seems likely at this point based on some of the stuff I've been reading, what will happen is that people will wind up getting a yearly coronavirus shot in addition to their yearly flu shot. Furthermore, you will also see increased manufacture of various anti-viral medications to deal with it as well as increased manufacture of various anti-bacterial medications to deal with various secondary infections. There will be no permanent isolation, nor will there be a mass die-off of the elderly and the unhealthy.

Basically, life will go on, because we have big brains that allowed us to invent things like modern medicine.

This, pretty much. Even without vaccine we will become slowly more resistant to it, until at some point, perhaps 100 or 200 years to the future it has become just another common cold, of barely worth the notice at that point.