The Covid-19 pandemic is upon us. As it spreads and infects a large number of people, more and more countries will be forced to lock down their populations at home to reduce the load on the healthcare system.
As many have highlighted, a lockdown combined with social distancing will reduce the rate of spread of the virus. This will lighten the load on strained healthcare systems significantly and reduce panic levels.
While a lockdown is necessary, there are certain issues to keep in mind: economies will slow down dramatically, people may not stay indoors indefinitely and with no exit plan, how will things ever return to normal?
It is not feasible for entire countries to be locked down for months. We need an exit strategy. Should a vaccine or cure become available, the exit strategy becomes simple. But suppose those are 12-18 months away. Is it feasible to lock down seven billion people for 18 months?
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