Coronavirus: Can herd immunity protect the population? - BBC Newsnight

An infectious disease expert says people shouldn't just try to avoid getting coronavirus - instead, they should act as though they already have the virus and want to avoid passing it on.
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Professor of Infectious Disease Modelling Graham Medley, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), told Newsnight he believes the impact of the coronavirus pandemic will be "remembered in the same kind of way" as the London Blitz during World War Two.

Talking to UK Editor Katie Razzall, Professor Medley says people need to "change their behaviour to reduce transmission before deaths get to be very big" but that is " going to be a challenge" as "the biggest danger" with coronavirus is when people only changing their behaviour when it is too late.

In the interview, Professor Medley also discussed how herd immunity can help protect the population, and how vulnerable people can be protected.

Professor Medley is Academic Chair of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling.

SPI-M gives expert advice to the Department of Health and Social Care and wider UK government on scientific matters relating to the UK’s response to an influenza pandemic (or other emerging human infectious disease threats). The advice is based on infectious disease modelling and epidemiology.

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Newsnight is the BBC's flagship news and current affairs TV programme - with analysis, debate, exclusives, and robust interviews.

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