[Ian Sowden (OP)]

If the effects of Covid 19 are not dangerous for healthy individuals, how about using a hotel / army camp / holiday camp and populating with healthy volunteers to test actual duration of illness, reinfection rates, infectiousness after recovery etc. If these are all positive then set up multiple sites to infect volunteer key workers. (Health, Carers, Sewage, Transport etc) When they were safe they could be used as the out break grows and more volunteers recruited.
The site would need health support, volunteer cooks, and other staff but as the infection goes through the camp and they recover, the staff would become available for hospitals etc.. They would all need vetting for their personal safety but it could allow a controlled introduction of immune people to cope with the crisis.

[Bored chemist]

ethics.png (712.77 kB . 658x478 - viewed 9808 times)How about "no".

[alancalverd]

infect volunteer key workers.

Thus, for a few critical weeks, depriving society of key workers.....
Fact is that key workers are getting infected anyway, so there's no need to call for volunteers. What would be very useful, and I gather already exists in at least prototype form, is a while-you-wait test for antibodies. Anyone who has a good load of antibodies and no symptoms is clearly fit to work in the most infectious areas.

[alancalverd]

BC: loved your ethics committee. Ours met today by Skype to discuss a number of urgent COVID projects. 

[Karen W.]

ethics.png (712.77 kB . 658x478 - viewed 9808 times)How about "no".

Ditto!

[Bored chemist]

It's not my work, but that of one of my favourite cartoonists
https://www.lab-initio.com/

[Bored chemist]

If the effects of Covid 19 are not dangerous for healthy individuals

The single biggest problem is in the word "if" in that clause.

[syhprum]

I am sure it has already been done in many prisons, concentration camps etc, ethics committees don't have much say when its a "matter of national importance"

[set fair]

I have thought for a long time that research should have been carried ot with nondangerous viruses to find out the effects of low load infection. The idea  would be to study the relationship between load size and the effects :- 1) % who end up fully infected and 2) % with antibody production without illness and 3) % with neither. The purpose being for dealing with just the situation such as we have now. ie to have a good estimate of how low load inocculation could be used and to know when it looks like the best option.