I'm not saying we just let all the seniors die, but an 18 month lockdown will end up with a lot of people's livelihoods and even lives being lost.
I just hope someone comes up with a good solution.
Agreed. The good thing is that this isn't something where literally nobody can go outside, and this is all on some Fallout shyt. There's still people in the health care field, law enforcement, grocers and others staying open. If it were airborne and even walking into a city equals doom, we'd be done for.
A solution though, it's hard to really say. You'd have to separate the infected from the healthy if people were to go about their regular life, and the vulnerable would need precautionary gear in order to protect themselves. This wouldn't really be practical though, because how many people are willing to get their temperature tested at say, the entrance of a movie theatre? Or a restaurant? We already see how stubborn people can be. You'd have to also hire professionals that are willing to do that or train security. That'd also require a lot of thermometers and other equipment that not every business can afford to spend a ton on. Not to mention the inevitable tension it'd cause (infected vs healthy), which is another issue to deal with.
Medically-wise, teams worldwide are working on vaccines and are jumping straight to human trials, but there's no guarantee we'll see it any quicker than 18 months. We all know this, because we know they have to make sure the test subjects don't end up dying during the trials. They can't risk a vaccine that ends up killing people a year and a half later because it gave them Super Saiyan Cancer or something. The good thing is, it can be treated, but the problem is the number of people getting sick. If there's too many people getting sick, it'll get really bad really fast. And of course, the only reason why people can't walk around carelessly is because of the vulnerable -- if they catch it, it's all the more dangerous.
As much as it sucks, I think the lockdowns ARE the most practical and the best solution we have. If people listen and don't spread this, we can keep the numbers down and run out the clock until a proper vaccine is ready. If people don't, it'll be detrimental to everyone, regardless of age and health.