All good points, I’ve wondered about the differences between different groups as well as far as herd immunity. Haven’t heard it discussed much, maybe because it’s super problematic to explicitly call that a plan - let’s let the working class all get it, and then everyone else can go back to normal.
How was the reproductive rate 1.5 before the lockdown though? The latest estimates I’ve seen put R0 at 5.7.
R0 is before interventions AND is environmentally related. Wuhan & NYC covid has way higher R0 than California Covid because of higher density/public transit usage. Additionally, effective R was already well below R0 by the first week of march (pre-lockdown) because of heavy (mostly voluntary) measures already in place. (WFH, more washing of hands, avoidance of mass gatherings, etc.)
Finally, I'm speaking a bit tongue-in-cheek calling it the "essential worker herd immunity plan". I doubt public health officials, rushing to do something, explicitly realized this would happen -- but with a bit of thought [1], it was a pretty expected outcome. [sort of how nursing home outbreaks occurring when we didn't - and still don't -- quarantine employee or give them heavy PPE was expected)
[1] It's pretty unfortunate there isn't a public or academic comment period to evaluate the SIP orders (after issuance) and almost no useful data being given about cases. There's a lot that doesn't make a lot of sense -- important restrictions missing and unnecessary restrictions present. My biggest pet peeve is allowing babysitters to come to any workers' houses, but it being disallowed to send your kid to a babbysitter's house, when adults are more likely to transmit than children.
How was the reproductive rate 1.5 before the lockdown though? The latest estimates I’ve seen put R0 at 5.7.