There is little historical evidence that we can achieve herd immunity by natural infection alone. Pathogens just don't generally infect themselves out of existence. And the human cost to trying would be losses in the millions of lives just in the USA. That is what mass testing is trying to stop. The only viable path to herd immunity IMO is how we have herd immunity for polio and measles, through vaccination campaigns.The ulterior motive is to prevent herd immunity - why else would Fauci want masks, social distancing, no large gatherings, etc.? We're never going to achieve any semblance of herd immunity maintaining these mitigation factors - do you think the virus is just going to leave anyday now never to return? Look at all the spikes in cases right now in Spain, France, Germany, etc., that is causing all kinds of panic & hysteria by the MSM. Their heads of states are talking lockdowns again! (Spain even undertook a very draconian China-style lockdown for several weeks last spring).
And if the vaccine proves to be unsafe or ineffective, or needs years of further development to be safe & efficacious...then what? Keep all these protocols in place for years? Decades? Forever? The virus isn't going anywhere - we're going have to learn to live with it and not hide from it. Herd immunity is a viable possibility based on Sweden (see the link I posted with the fascinating interview of Dr. Tengell).
Again, on Stephens - they retracted the statement that he died from complications of Covid and consequently changed his obituary. So, at this point he didn't die from Covid and maybe if the family wants to, they'll release the cause of death.
How do you know there are more false negatives than false positives? If you're "asymptomatic" does it really matter if you're negative or positive (other than more tests create more case numbers which allows governors & heads of states to continue with business restrictions, limited gatherings, mask mandates, etc.). You can be negative one day, positive the next day, negative the day after that, and so on...crazy.
Even the Scottish Health Chief thinks the test is "rubbish:"
Leitch admits Covid test is 'bit rubbish' as it says non-infectious are positive
SCOTTISH Government health chief Jason Leitch admitted the tests used to detect Covid cases are “a bit rubbish”, it emerged today. The national clinical director suggested the “antigen” tests ̵…www.thescottishsun.co.uk
"SCOTTISH Government health chief Jason Leitch admitted the tests used to detect Covid cases are “a bit rubbish”, it emerged today."
"The national clinical director suggested the “antigen” tests - the results from which are driving ministers’ policy - are not fully reliable as they can give positive results to people who are not infectious."
It may have been a rumor, but it is quite possible he died from COVID complications. Just like Robert Trump.
The current outbreaks in Europe and Israel are ironclad proof that they were nowhere close to herd immunity and neither is Sweden IMO. Speaking of Spain, I thought this was interesting comparison to NYC with a possible key difference being the policy around bars and restaurants. A caveat is that NYC probably has a higher baseline of prior exposure/ partial immunity from the first wave.
View: https://twitter.com/_MiguelHernan/status/1304424019450630144
You are missing the key point. You can be asymptomatic initially early on and be contagious. You could test positive and develop symptoms the next day or two. That is the type of person that are trying to be identified so the transmission chain can be broken before that person infects others. Below is a paper about false negatives. No test is perfect. The PCR test is probably the most reliable. Like with the Antibody serology tests, it takes a little longer to develop a really good antigen test. Each generation of test will improve on the last.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.10...1 through 7,at least one respiratory specimen.