The only ways the Covid-19 pandemic can end

   

      The two ways that the Covid-19 pandemic will end is with a vaccine or through "herd immunity."  The vaccine is 12-24 months away at best.  Herd immunity is reached when 60-70% of the population has been exposed to the virus or is vaccinated and has developed antibodies to the virus.  Without vaccines, the 1918 influenza pandemic was controlled after multiple waves built the herd immunity.  The longer it takes to develop a vaccine the more likely that this virus will be controlled through herd immunity.   The social distancing that we are doing is not designed to end the virus but to save the health care system from being overwhelmed and possibly saving deaths until a vaccine is available.  I say "possibly" because it is hard to say what the death count will be after multiple waves and before the vaccine is available.  The 50,000 deaths we now have in the United States may be only half or a third of the final count before the virus is controlled.
    There is one school of thought that the best way to control the virus with a minimum of deaths is to only have the elderly and other vulnerable persons use the social distancing that we are all now experiencing.  At the same time younger, less vulnerable people would live normal lives and be exposed to the virus to build herd immunity.  Some of these younger people would have serious illness and death with the virus but it would bring the virus under control sooner than waiting for the vaccine.  The bottom line is that there will be death to a new virus and you only want to determine the best way is to minimize the deaths and serious illnesses.
     Of course, this discussion of which route is a better way to control the virus is hypothetical except we may have a chance to see how this plays out with the example of Sweden which has gone the herd immunity route while its neighboring countries of Norway and Denmark have used social distancing.  While the deaths in Sweden are now higher than its neighbors the question is where the number of deaths will be in each country when the virus is finally controlled.  The final number of deaths in Sweden may be reached very soon and the total count of deaths in the neighboring countries may be stretched out over the next year or two.  Time will tell which method was best at minimizing the total death count.

P.S.
       The per capita death rate in the United States is 13 per 100,000 people and it is 17 per 100,000 in Sweden.

P.S.
     One report found that 13.9% of New Yorkers have the virus antibodies.