What makes the novel Coronavirus unique is its resiliency that allows for it to spread itself among the population, whether through the air or by staying “alive” on surfaces for periods longer than other pathogens. In order to combat this, most parts of the world have implemented a variety of strategies including social distancing, face mask use, promotion of better sanitary practices, etc.
While there is plenty of evidence that these strategies have slowed down the spread of COVID, I would think that their impact in reducing the spread of other infectious diseases would even be greater. Is there data on how the spread of influenza, the common cold, bacterial infections, etc. have been reduced? The flip side of this question is, as we begin to relax the guidelines, should we also expect non-COVID infectious diseases to also bounce back?
First I must disagree with the first part. It is not an unusually “resilient” germ. Its ability to spread is more the fact that so much of the population is naive to it, and that so many people are up and around spreading it, presymptomatically, asymptomatically, and mildly symptomatically.
To the second part, I don’t have official numbers at the ready but it was clearly seen. The same social distancing measures drove influenza completely off the grid and influenza was not alone. Very little infectious disease in general and no I don’t think they will bounce so much so fast (not so many naive to them, and now due for seasonal declines anyway).