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Read his whole comment, he's actually suggesting kids stay away from the elderly. He's not saying "kids are immune, let them do whatever." He's saying the oppos

by LanceH 7y ago

Read his whole comment, he's actually suggesting kids stay away from the elderly. He's not saying "kids are immune, let them do whatever." He's saying the opposite. They're basically not going to be showing as sick, and essentially make the best carriers. It was a tweet...you all can read that far at least. Edit: also, the headline (both here and on bbc.com) have "child immunity" in quotes, which are two words he did not say. He said, "Kids are essentially immune, but elderly with existing conditions are vulnerable." Yes, you could twist it around and say it was on the topic of 'child immunity', but it was put in quotes directly next to his name and was designed to inflame.

greedo 7y ago
I usually try to take a charitable reading of people's online thoughts, but it's difficult to parse the difference between saying "Kids are essentially immune" and "child immunity." Kids are synonymous with children (unless Elon meant baby goats), and immune and immunity, well, if you can't agree that those are identical...
- LanceH 7y ago
  So you're going to drop the "essentially" and the fact that he's using it to talk about keeping kids away from the vulnerable? Oh, and putting something in quotes generally means it's a quote. A quote is not something which could be read as equivalent. So, no, they are not identical. And from context you can also tell he's talking about otherwise healthy kids -- the "essentially" part of the actual quote.
- Retric 7y ago
  Playing devils advocate. Try and add up known cases of children dying. I have been looking and I don’t actually see any support for the often quoted 0.2% fatality risk. In China people under 20 made 2.1% of known Coronavirus cases, but they represent a vastly larger share of the population. Italy and South Korea show mortality by age but zero deaths under 30. I would now say that as “essentially immune,” but it does support them being at 1/100th the risk of 80+ year olds. Further it also means shutting down schools early is extremely important. A largely asymptotic population in close contact with each other for hours a day is a nightmare for disease transmission.

by LanceH 7y ago

greedo 7y ago

I usually try to take a charitable reading of people's online thoughts, but it's difficult to parse the difference between saying "Kids are essentially immune" and "child immunity." Kids are synonymous with children (unless Elon meant baby goats), and immune and immunity, well, if you can't agree that those are identical...

LanceH 7y ago
So you're going to drop the "essentially" and the fact that he's using it to talk about keeping kids away from the vulnerable? Oh, and putting something in quotes generally means it's a quote. A quote is not something which could be read as equivalent. So, no, they are not identical. And from context you can also tell he's talking about otherwise healthy kids -- the "essentially" part of the actual quote.
Retric 7y ago
Playing devils advocate. Try and add up known cases of children dying. I have been looking and I don’t actually see any support for the often quoted 0.2% fatality risk. In China people under 20 made 2.1% of known Coronavirus cases, but they represent a vastly larger share of the population. Italy and South Korea show mortality by age but zero deaths under 30. I would now say that as “essentially immune,” but it does support them being at 1/100th the risk of 80+ year olds. Further it also means shutting down schools early is extremely important. A largely asymptotic population in close contact with each other for hours a day is a nightmare for disease transmission.