People gave up on flu pandemic measures a century ago

[PatSeg]

5. I have always had a very strong immune system

I rarely ever catch any bug that is going around and if I do, I usually have a very mild case of whatever it is. In the past, blood tests have shown I have antibodies for everything from the Hong Kong Flu to Mononucleosis, though I had never been ill. COVID however scares the hell out of me, as it is highly unlikely that anyone has an immunity to it. At my age and with my current health concerns, I cannot risk exposure to such a virus.

Yes, hand washing and masks are simple and effective tools to prevent the spread until enough people are vaccinated to create herd immunity. I think we need to adapt, as we could be facing more pandemics in the future. Global warming could be releasing diseases from thousands of years ago, diseases that no human is likely to be immune to. Also as humans keep destroying the natural habitats of many animals, viruses will "jump" from one species to another. What is essentially harmless in one species could be deadly to another.

Our ability to adapt to these realities will determine whether we will be able to survive. If a large percentage of people refuse to accept the new limitations, we could easily be an endangered species.