From the Tele - bad news from the Netherlands (where they've been doing antibody testing). It would suggest the stark choice is either trash the economy, or take large numbers of deaths in order to build immunity.
UK faces eight to ten waves of coronavirus before population achieves herd immunity
A study shows just three per cent of Dutch people had developed immunity by the end of the first week of April - the country's virus peak
Hopes that Britain can achieve widespread Covid-19 immunity by the end of the lockdown have been dealt a devastating blow after research suggested only a small proportion may have acquired resistance to the disease.
Drawing on the research, Professor Anthony Costello, a former British director of the World Health Organisation, warned that the UK faces eight to ten waves of coronavirus before the population achieves herd immunity.
In such a scenario, both the death toll and economic consequences would be catastrophic.
In the middle of March, before the lockdown was introduced, Sir Patrick Vallance, the country's chief scientific adviser, said about 40m people in the UK could need to catch the coronavirus to build up “herd immunity” and prevent the disease coming back in the future.
Sir Patrick was defending Boris Johnson’s decision at the time not to follow other European countries by closing schools and banning mass gatherings.
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Prof Costello also said a Dutch study - if it proved accurate - raised serious concern for the UK because it suggested just three per cent of the Netherlands had acquired immunity by the end of the first week of April - when the pandemic was at its peak in that country.
The study, conducted by Dutch blood bank authorities, analysed tests for the Covid-19 antibody - an indicator of immunity - on 4,200 blood donors.
Just three per cent had acquired immunity, the scientists concluded. Prof Costello said if the findings were verified that would have alarming consequences for the UK’s ability to fight coronavirus.
He said: “We won’t get herd immunity if what the latest models show are correct. In the UK we would have to get through another eight to ten waves to get to herd immunity. This study in the Netherlands shows antibody levels are very low in the community and so the idea it is rapidly spreading and giving protection at the same time isn’t there.”