Hypothetically what it would mean is that people over the age of 50 would retire earlier (retire at 50 instead of 65) and then move to a place where they are more isolated from the virus. Living out the rest of their lives off grid on a farm, in a cabin up north, in a desert, on a fishing boat, etc.
Would lots of elderly people die from the coronavirus? Yes, unfortunately that would be the case.
What I foresee happening however, if this worst case scenario becomes a reality, that it would cause a major shift in real estate and the off grid community.
People over the age of 50 would retire early, move to the countryside and isolate themselves from the rest of society so they don't get the coronavirus and die.
People under the age of 50 would continue to work and live productive lives, up until the point where they need to retire.
This hypothetical worst case scenario assumes that it is impossible to create a vaccine for the virus and the pandemic reaches every corner of the planet, killing roughly 233 million people globally in the first wave of the virus.
The problem afterwards is if there is no vaccine, and a person can contract COVID19 multiple times (or worse, it mutates in the future), then the virus continues to spread unabated and young people need to work in order to survive, and consequently many elderly die due to the first, second and continuing waves of the virus spreading.
Many people might also assume that because they got the virus when they were younger that they are now somehow immune to it, but when they get older they would discover they can still get it and die.
The long term effect therefore could be the isolation of the elderly, early retirements, and people buying up off grid land so they can avoid the general population.
Some people might try to live communally, but that would be inherently risky because all it takes is one person to become exposed to the virus and then 10 people get sick. Then 100. Then the whole commune. The coronavirus spreads exponentially and while the incubation period is long, the amount of time a person is contagious without realizing it is what makes this virus so good at spreading.
Speaking for myself I am currently 41. Retiring at the age of 50 means I could be going Off Grid during the next decade if such a worst case scenario turned out to be a reality.
Fortunately this might not be the case. It may take two or more years, but we may see a vaccine. There are many companies already working on potential vaccines, but it is the testing period that takes a long time because they have to make sure the vaccine is safe.
(I think they should be asking for human volunteers to test the vaccine on front line health care workers. The type of people who need the vaccine most as they are working with people infected and can also infect others unless they are vaccinated.)
In the meantime people need to be washing their hands and avoiding contact with other people / objects which other people frequently touch. This is our new way of life until further notice.
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