I think it is missed to a certain extent, which is why i asked the question a few days ago as to what % of the population the government perceived as likely to get it. What was an acceptable %. It is the one stat that is hard to come by.
For herd immunity, I have read that you need something like 60-90% of people to have had it (depending on the disease).
Once those figures are passed, the likelihood of getting it from someone randomly is lessened.
Flattening the curve though will give older people their best chance of getting decent hospital care if they do come down with it.
Plus of course the hope is some vaccine will come into being sooner rather than later.
The interesting thing if we look at the Spanish flu is that about a third of the world's population seems to have come down with it (according to internet sites). People back then did wear masks and tried to prevent the spread with isolation and some of the same measures we are taking now. It never did reach 60% or anywhere like it, but after a couple of years, the flu disappeared and that strain has not popped up again.
So I suspect the government here is hoping to limit numbers who get it so hospitals are not overwhelmed, but also aiming to avoid a total 60% infection rate, even over time. I would guess they hope to limit it to about a third, like the Spanish flu.
Whichever way we swing it, a third means something like 8 or 9 million Australians and the death rate is still most likely going to be 1-2%.
And I am also guessing but I would say that once the curve does flatten and numbers start to fall off a bit, the government will open nursing homes and such again to visitors. It will be done cautiously but with a realisation that it will result in some fall out and some deaths.
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