Coronovirus

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Scientists are looking at this, to some extent, like a bit of experiment. This decision to relax public health policies really doesn't follow the kind of play book that we would expect from public health experts. Many scientists think that that is a deeply unethical thing to do. The idea you would permit, perhaps even encourage, natural infection of a disease like this in order to achieve herd immunity has never been advocated or tried before.

The UK government has announced that virtually all COVID restrictions will be removed in England on Monday 18th July. This will do away with social distancing requirements, allow businesses to re-open to full capacity and remove legal mask mandates. This decision comes, however, amidst soaring infections rates in the country, driven by the delta variant.

Now scientists are questioning the wisdom of this policy and asking whether the combination of high transmission and a partially vaccinated population could provide the perfect breeding ground for vaccine-resistant variants - a possibility which could have devastating global consequences.

News: Why England’s COVID ‘freedom day’ alarms researchers

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