Right now, this seems to be the best explanation for a lot of the unexpected observations we made so far:
* few children seem to be sick from that virus
* geographical disparity in Europe (compare northern Germany vs. northern Italy), even considering population density
* the high number of reportedly asymptomatic cases
* uneven distribution of infectiousness ("superspreaders")
My pet theory so far is that one or more very similar viruses have been in circulation for a while and that "asymptomatic" carriers of COVID-19 are in fact at least partially immune due to exposure to these similar viruses.
Note that this also means that COVID-19 is much scarier than it looks. Because if you are not among those with prior immunity, you are much more likely to suffer from the bad effects of that virus.
* few children seem to be sick from that virus * geographical disparity in Europe (compare northern Germany vs. northern Italy), even considering population density * the high number of reportedly asymptomatic cases * uneven distribution of infectiousness ("superspreaders")
My pet theory so far is that one or more very similar viruses have been in circulation for a while and that "asymptomatic" carriers of COVID-19 are in fact at least partially immune due to exposure to these similar viruses.
Note that this also means that COVID-19 is much scarier than it looks. Because if you are not among those with prior immunity, you are much more likely to suffer from the bad effects of that virus.