COVID-19, possible way out.

As far as I can see, there are only three ways to get out of this crisis we are in as a species.

• Finding a vaccine — which is highly unlikely to happen anytime soon.
• Be back in business, as usual. Let the virus ran its course and obtain herd immunity in the process. (In that path, many deaths and suffering will follow.)
• Aggressively test everyone, quarantine those who have it, isolate and prevent community spread, then go back to normal with caution. (In other words, proactively take the situation under control until scientists find a vaccine.)

I can’t see any other way out.

The first option; kinda out of our hand. Even though scientists found the most effective vaccine today, it’ll take months through trials to have a stable vaccine.

The second one is logical but inhumane.

The third one is the most feasible (but difficult) option as it seems.

Apparently, we can’t see authorities do enough to contain the situation. Everyone seems just stalling. Only a very few countries do mass testings, some avoiding and some don’t have enough resources to do such.

In Sri Lanka, so far we have tested less than 2000 people which is not nearly enough to contain the situation I believe. It’s pure luck/coincidence or some other circumstantial reason that we aren’t in a bad shape just yet. Curfew, partial lockdowns (with no proper testings or coordination) are can only be temporary measures and obviously not a long term solution.

It indeed needs massive effort and will cost billions to contain the situation on a global scale. But, do nothing or less will cost more than that in the long run and only uncertainty and chaos will be left. If scientists wouldn’t find a vaccine in time or couldn’t contain the situation, sooner or later the only practical option will be the second one. I don’t follow a capitalist mindset, but more or less, in this age, the world order dictates by capitalism. We already have seen the demands; Trump and a few other openly talk about it. So I don’t think this status quo will hold much longer with everything.

Having said that; the world, every one of us in this together and all the petty differences, geographical borders, race, religions don’t matter at this point. Only a truly international corporation could properly fix this and unfortunately can’t see world political leadership/ institutions (such as UN/WHO) investing enough to come with such coordination and a plan.