Nuts and Bolts on COVID-19

In the city I used to live in, they had a weekly festival in the downtown area on Thursday nights. It was sort of a combination farmer’s market and art fair, where vendors could set up booths. One of the most popular was called Ask the Rabbi. To borrow a line from the old billboards in the New York subway, you didn’t have to be Jewish to ask him a question. I don’t remember whether he even charged anything. But if they had a booth called Ask the Virologist, here are a few questions I’d pose about the coronavirus:

*Is social distancing only good for taking the pressure off hospitals, or does it also help cause the virus to “run out of fuel” and eventually die?

*What kind of measurement would you be comfortable with in starting to “reopen” the economy? I’m not asking for a date here, just the metrics.

*As for full testing and tracing contacts of infected people, isn’t it too late for that in places like New York and California? But cam it still be done in the less populated states?

*I know the question of immunity has yet to be settled, but who should be released from lockdown first – is it only those who have recovered from the virus? Does testing negative mean they can no longer transmit the virus to others? Should they wear a badge or carry a card saying they are “clean”?

*What about those who have not caught the virus. Must they stay locked down until there is a vaccine?

*When there is a vaccine, who gets it first? How is that decided?

*At what point can this disease be considered “over”?

*Can this particular virus mutate to another form before it runs its course?

*Most people will survive COVID-19, and many will have only mild symptoms or none at all, depending on their immune systems. Is this resistance or immunity trait passed down genetically to their children?

OK, I admit that I was too lazy to just Google these questions or ask Alexa, Siri, Cortana, Quora, or whomever to help me, but it would be nice if our media, mainstream or otherwise, dug in to some of these things.