On Thursday, a blog by ITV's Political Editor Robert Peston flagged the epidemiological concept. "The strategy of the British government in minimizing the impact of Covid-19 is to allow the virus to pass through the entire population," Peston wrote.

The idea quickly caught the public imagination -- and not in a good way. The supposed strategy seemed to be in line with comments Johnson gave on TV two weeks ago -- in a clip that went viral -- where he said that "one of the theories" was that "perhaps you could take it on the chin, take it all in one go and allow the disease, as it were, to move through the population, without taking as many draconian measures."

Social media memes quickly spread comparing Johnson to Lord Farquaad from the film "Shrek," who held a contest rather than rescue his desired princess himself. "Some of you may die," the feudal lord says. "But it's a sacrifice I am willing to make."

Also:

Officials said ministers have been struck by how quickly the "herd immunity" issue had caught fire ...