An international group of scientists called on governments to reverse their strategies for Coronavirus and allow young and healthy people to return to normal life while protecting the most vulnerable.
The proposal, formulated by three researchers, but many signed by, argues that the virus should be allowed to spread in low-risk groups in the hope of reaching so-called herd immunity, a condition in which enough of the population is resistant to the virus for it to subside. The epidemic.
The plan is described in what the authors call the “Great Barrington Declaration,” after the Massachusetts town where it was developed, and it represents the final round of heated debate among scholars who support radically different approaches to the crisis. One critic said it amounted to executing the sick and disabled, describing the idea as “hideous.”
The authors of the declaration – Sunitra Gupta of Oxford University, Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University, and Martin Koldorf at Harvard University – argue that lockdowns and restrictions on Covid-19 are leading to “devastating effects” on public health by disrupting routine care and harming mental health. With the underprivileged bear the brunt.