The fight against COVID-19, or coronavirus, continues across the state of Louisiana. Governor John Bel Edwards has put multiple layers of public protection, including closing schools, casinos, gyms, and movie theaters. As well as reducing the size of public gatherings and re-purposing buildings in the state for medical use.

While the state is doing everything it can to slow the spread, many pharmaceutical companies are working to find treatments and vaccines. But most of those are months away, if not years. But there's one more approach to this pandemic, our own bodies.

Our Lady of the Lake-Baton Rouge Infectious Disease Specialist Catherine O’Neal told Louisiana Radio Network that "herd immunity" will be key to ending COVID-19. O'Neal told LRN

“We hope that greater than 50% of us will ultimately become infected over a slow period of time, I’m hoping by the late fall to winter” 

While further explaining what "herd immunity" actually is...

“If I have immunity, and you have immunity and then there’s another person at a party that doesn’t have immunity, and somebody new walks in with coronavirus, if they hit you and I first and we are immune, the virus will never get to the non-immune person because we won’t spread it to the next person” 

O'Neal echoed other health professionals in saying that social distancing, and the shelter in place, order will not cure the general population of COVID. Most Louisiana residents, and US residents, will eventually get the virus. These measures are in place to try and keep us all from getting it at the same time, to keep the pressure off our healthcare system.

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