Coronavirus: 'herd immunity' is a strange and controversial strategy

5,423 people are infected with the coronavirus, and 127 have died in France, despite the measures put in place by the Macron government. Several European countries have decided to close their borders and confine their population until a cure can be found. Yet, in the face of this dreadful pandemic, one country has chosen to go it alone.

Not 'suppressing' the virus

'If you suppress something very, very hard, when you release those measures it bounces back and it bounces back at the wrong time,'

said Patrick Vallance, the BBC's science adviser to the British government.

'Our aim is to try to reduce the peak, broaden the peak, not suppress it completely,' he added.

Could this be the new strategy chosen by Boris Johnson and his government? What does this mean?

Britain believes that wanting to 'suppress' the coronavirus is not the only solution. Thus, the Prime Minister and his scientific adviser could be advocating for the slow spread of the virus, while ensuring that those 'at risk' are taken care of. The forecasts would then be turned upside down, and by the end of the epidemic season, 60% of the British population would have been infected, and would thus be resistant to COVID-19.

Why not in France?

This strategy, strange to say the least, did not come out of nowhere. According to the French BFMTV news station, 'scientists' have had 'alarming predictions:' within a year, between 40 and 70% of the world's population could be infected by the coronavirus. A theory that has been circulating in France and other European countries as well.

'50 to 70% of the population eventually ends up being contaminated by the virus, and this is what puts an end to the virus since it creates a form of majority immunity, and therefore the virus extinguishes itself,' explained the French Minister of Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, on Sunday.

But rest assured, this strategy will not be applied in France, or even in Great Britain. In the face of growing British concern, the government of Boris Johnson explained that containment measures 'for people aged 70 and over' would be implemented. This is reassuring to his fellow citizens.

For more details, watch our video above.