Suppose you saw an ad on craigslist or other social media titled:

"The quickest way to get IMMUNE is to GET IT and then GET OVER IT."

In the ad or post, an infected person states they will be at a certain isolated place and time, or perhaps even at their own home, and invites anyone to come get infected.

1. Should such a post be allowed or censored?  Is it criminal in any way?

2. Should the poster be allowed to engage in this activity with any interested consenting adult, with or without posting about it?  Is that criminal in any way?

3. In real life, today, how likely is it that harm would come to this person for posting this offer?

Discuss

(Just to be clear, I am not infected, afaik, and I am not advocating engaging in this activity.  I am just curious what people think.)

That line of proposition will not be allowed to stay on this site. If one of us moderators see it, it will be marked as Spam and the poster reported to Tom. 

Personally, I can see the intrigue in that line of thinking - most parents at least entertain the idea of something similar when it comes to chicken pox. However, I could not speak to the legality of that action. I never really gave that much thought at the time.

COVID; however, is in a vastly different stratus than chicken pox, and I would think that this hypothetical proposal could very well tread over that line of legality. I being one of the those with a compromised immune system will likely stay far away from known sources and hope like hell i don't get a severe case if i were to get it. In fact, one of the goals for me today is to write an email to my docs to get a plan of attack planned out in the event i get it. 

weathertop wrote:

That line of proposition will not be allowed to stay on this site. If one of us moderators see it, it will be marked as Spam and the poster reported to Tom. 

I did not mean a post like this here on WarGear.  This is not the place for it, and not at all what I meant.  I meant on a site or platform (at least partly) dedicated to connecting people in person.

My post above was intended only to provoke discussion about the ethics and ramifications of such activity, not to actually be or to even advocate that activity.

And I can relate to being worried.  I'm starting to get scared myself.

1. As far as I'm aware, posting something like this is not illegal. In my opinion however, social media sites and market sites should censor these kinds of posts.

2. Again, afaik it isn't illegal and as far as the two consulting adults act responsibly (self quarantine for 2-3 week, depending on how long the symptoms persist), little to no harm could come to others.

3. That depends on many things, ie the age of the person, whether the person has pre-existing conditions such as heart problems, diabetes, CVD, high bood pressure, whether the person is overweight and or smokes. These are all factors that can have a very high impact on disease progression.

I would very strongly advise against doing something like this. Even if you took extreme precautions against infecting other "non-consenting" individuals, the risk of spreading the disease is never 0. It would be reckless and inconsiderate towards your community and other people.

Furthermore, we have no idea about the scope of lasting consequences. I have read reports of people having lasting breathing problems due to scarring of the lung tissue.

I'd rather wait for the vaccine than take the very minute risk of dying or having lasting consequences. 

There actually is a certain line of reasoning to this thought process (the one originally posted/questioned about). It might make sense for those who are of strong constitution provided they could then get immediate care to assist them in getting thru the virus symptoms and if they could immediately go into self-quarantine along with the person providing them care until after the incubation period. Such folks would then build up their immunity to the virus and would act as a roadblock to the future spread.

That said...it's too dangerous to go down this road as I wouldn't trust that all such folks would adhere to the above requirements...and thus, they would likely exacerbate the spread of the virus. The care giver could also contract the virus and spread it to folks while going out to the store for supplies, etc.

Furthermore, do we know for sure about the following questions?

1) What's the incubation period? I've heard some doctors say the 'think' it's around 2 weeks, but do we know for sure?

2) Can someone contract the virus twice? I know Dr. Sanjay Gupta was asking that question last week and I haven't heard a follow-up definitive answer, though I have heard several doctors imply that they couldn't.

3) What's the likelihood of the airborne spread of this virus?  Dr. Fauci had said some days ago that it couldn't be completely discounted.

1) Average incubation period is 5 days +- 1d

2) There are reports of people contracting the virus twice. How valid they are, I'm unaware. It could be, someone got a sever cold, falsely tested positive and then got covid19. But still extremely rare. 

3) There is no doubt about it being able to spread via the air. Sitting within 2 meters for more than 15 min to someone with the virus greatly increses the chance of you contracting the virus as well. The virus can spread via droplets you breathe or cough out.

Actually, let me clarify on #3. I’m not thinking about the 2 to 6 feet range between people, but rather the ‘open air’, say you’re out for a walk or jog and noone else is within 50 yards of you.

Then no

I don't think it's criminal, just dumb. There is no proof, at least that I've seen, that you can't have it twice. However, the fact that people have tested positive twice also isn't a proof, because the tests are not 100% accurate. If I was in a position to do something about it and I saw such a post, I'd at least put a warning up about how all that might end up happening is you getting sick.

https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/r/?kid=a440c112

DeVine - that just sends me to a signup page.    Did you mean to link to a specific article?

No, I meant the signup page.

why?

I figured this was as good a place as any.

ok - but why not some context.  I assume you are implying a recommendation for morningbrew?  What do you like about it?  Why should I sign up?

Yeah, sorry. I do recommend it, s it's a more relaxed take on the news, and is a bit funny at times. I always enjoy reading it in the morning, and hopefully you will, too.