What the readers saw- a weekly round-up

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Our weekly look at stories we didn’t have time to fit in-with a great deal of help from our readers. Thanks.

Is Herd Immunity the answer to Covid-19? Was it ever? According to Nature Briefing, commenting on a New York Times article, no, we’re not anywhere near it anyway:

Even in the hardest-hit parts of the world, many fewer people have been infected than would be needed to achieve the herd immunity that might slow — but not stop — the outbreak. Serology surveys in places including Wuhan, Madrid and London have tested a cross-section of the population for antibodies against the disease. So far, the highest rate of infections found is around 20%, in New York City. That is well below the required level — something more like 60% (maybe) — to achieve herd immunity. There are many caveats around how the surveys are done and the accuracy of the antibody tests. And we don’t know for sure whether a past infection will give a person immunity, or to what extent.

The New York Times | 8 min read

briefing@nature.com

Mr Peter Seymour of Hertfordshire thinks that the Swedish experience is directly pertinent to this. Here he gives us Wired‘s take on it. The clue is in the headline: “Sweden’s Coronavirus Experiment has well and truly failed”. Read it. It’s hard-hitting stuff

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/sweden-coronavirus-herd-immunity

And the same Mr Seymour has not been idle elsewhere. Here CNN report on how Vietnam has joined other successful Asian countries, only more so, with a death toll of zero.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/29/asia/coronavirus-vietnam-intl-hnk/index.html

We think CNN is a great station, and are particular admirers of Mr Adam Charlton and his brilliant contributions to journalism.

Still can’t find the source of that quote

“the purpose of education is to produce people who are acceptable at a dance and indispensable in a shipwreck”

Can anyone help?

And finally-Nature recommends these five books to get you through the weekend. Happy reading

Andrew Robinson’s pick of the top five science books to read this week includes rehabilitating the Vandals, the bearded ladies of geology and how to get a job in academia. Nature | 3 min read

#nature #sweden #herdimmumity #adamcharlton #vietnam