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There actually is. The evolutionary selection pressure on most coronaviruses exists throughout its infectious stage. So in order to be more infectious for longer the coronavirus would become less symptomatic and so less serious.

But with C19 we are aggressively isolating people with symptoms. This focuses evolutionary selection pressure on the initial infectious stage. In order to be more infectious the virus increases viral load and shedding, causing more serious symptoms; which would be an evolutionary disadvantage, except isolation renders this disadvantage moot.

Also natural immunity general focuses on the nucleus of the virus, vaccine immunity is to the spike. So this forces mutations in different proteins, which has different results.



Are you saying without lockdowns it would have turned in a regular cold by now?


Not lock-downs specifically. Testing and isolating, Maybe, but it would have cost many more lives.




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