I also read some work which estimated that industrial shutdowns in Wuhan (and the surrounding province) may have saved 40,000 lives (due to increased air quality). I think at the time is was an estimated 8k deaths in the province so ~ 5x the lives saved.

Of course with all these people not dying, the estimates of 'excess deaths' to calculate how many have *really* been killed by covid make it look much better. Except those looking at the upside are using these facts to argue for not doing all the good stuff which has made it much better than it otherwise could have been.

I've also been reading about how the lungs are just the first step, and some percentage of patients get blood vessels all over the body being infected, which can cause strokes, organ failure, and cognitive issues - which, of course, continue to have unknown long-term side effects.

Similarly we still don't know if any vaccine will provide life-time immunity (and varied anti-body counts of recovered patients seems to indicate that even full blown infection does not provide life-time immunity).

The only plus side is that all the actions we take to stop the spread of this disease also an effect on other infectious diseases. Hand washing, good cough/sneeze hygiene and social isolation/lock down has collapsed the numbers of people visiting hospitals with other infectious diseases...

I have a work colleague that has been a relatively heavy smoker for the past two decades (he is also a runner). He had tried quitting several times in the past...but he backslided when stressed. COVID scared the bejesus out of him and I think he has finally quit for good thank goodness. I believe COVID was a big motivator because humans in general are just not good in assessing risk which may be decades away...vs COVID which was a risk right now.

I am hoping that all the research into respiratory diseases and the immune system pay big dividends going forward. For example simple things like making people lie on their stomach made a big difference. We have found that we should use ventilators less than previous best practice suggests. I am also hoping that all the research into the immune system also pays dividends (e.g. are there things other than antibodies that will indicate immunity, why does the body drop antibodies for COVID so quickly vs other diseases?). Perhaps out of this we will also have better air filters and cleaning methods which can kill pathogens...and better processes in hospitals and nursing homes for stopping the spread of infection for multiple diseases. Over time I am sure all this will likely save more lives than will be lost through COVID.

By biggest hope is of course that this kills the open office with people working shoulder to shoulder. I have turned down multiple opportunities because I absolutely hate working in these zoo type environments (I have worked from home now for the best part of a decade).

Just think about many fewer drivers are on the roads getting into traffic accidents.

So 6 more viruses and a non-smoking nation. Perhaps COVID saved more lifes than it took ??

Good news, everyone!

There's increasing evidence that Covid-19 will lead to fewer deaths and a healthier population in the 2020s.

Fear of the virus had led to unprecedented numbers of people quitting smoking. In the UK alone surveys suggest that over a million of our 7.4 million smokers have recently quit, fearing the greater impact of the virus on the lungs of smokers.

Smoking kills around 120,000 people in the UK each year, so we can hope to experience a significant fall in smoking related deaths every year going forward, potentially surpassing the number of people killed by virus before the end of the decade.

Quite why the risk of coronavirus is a bigger motivator than something like lung or throat cancer is something of a mystery, but hey ho.