Lockdown effects feared to be killing more people than Covid
Lockdown effects feared to be killing more people than Covid
Unexplained excess deaths outstrip those from virus as medics call figures ‘terrifying’
By Sarah Knapton, Science Editor
18 August 2022
The effects of lockdown may now be killing more people than are dying of Covid, official data suggests.
Figures for excess deaths from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that around 1,000 more people than usual are dying each week from conditions other than the virus.
The Telegraph understands that the Department of Health has ordered an investigation into the figures amid concern that the deaths are linked to delays to and deferment of treatment for conditions such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
Over the past two months, the number of excess deaths not from Covid dwarfs the number linked to the virus. It comes amid renewed calls for Covid measures such as compulsory face masks in the winter.
But the figures suggest the country is facing a new silent health crisis linked to the pandemic response rather than to the virus itself.
The British Heart Foundation said it was “deeply concerned” by the findings, while the Stroke Association said it had been anticipating a rise in deaths for a while.
Dr Charles Levinson, the chief executive of Doctorcall, a private GP service, said his company was seeing “far too many” cases of undetected cancers and cardiac problems, as well as “disturbing” numbers of mental health conditions.
“Hundreds and hundreds of people dying every week – what is going on?” he said. “Delays in seeking and receiving healthcare are no doubt the driving force, in my view.
“Daily Covid statistics demanded the nation’s attention, yet these terrifying figures barely get a look in. A full and urgent government investigation is required immediately.”
Figures released by the ONS on Tuesday showed that excess deaths are currently 14.4 per cent higher than the five-year average, equating to 1,350 more deaths than usual in the week ending Aug 5.
Although 469 deaths were because of Covid, the remaining 881 have not been explained and the ONS does not break down the remaining deaths by cause.
Since the beginning of June, the ONS has recorded nearly 10,000 more deaths than the five-year average – around 1,089 a week – none of which is linked to Covid. The figure is more than three times the number of people who died because of the virus over the same period, which stood at 2,811.
Even analysis that takes into account ageing population changes has identified a substantial ongoing excess.
Questioned by The Telegraph, the Department of Health admitted it had asked the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities to look into the figures and had discovered that the majority were linked to largely preventable heart and stroke and diabetes-related conditions.
Many appointments and treatments were cancelled as the NHS battled the pandemic throughout 2020 and last year, leading to a huge backlog that the health service is still struggling to bring down.
This week, an internal memo from the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan, leaked to the Health Service Journal (HSJ), warned it was becoming “increasingly common” for patients to die in A&E as they waited for treatment.
Dr Charmaine Griffiths, the British Heart Foundation chief executive, said: “We’re deeply concerned by the initial findings that excess deaths in recent months seem to be being driven by cardiovascular disease.
“Without significant help for the NHS from the Government now, this situation can only get worse.”
Last week, official England-wide statistics showed emergency care standards had hit an all-time low.
Juliet Bouvier OBE, the Stroke Association chief executive, said: “We know people haven’t been having their routine appointments for the past few years now, so we’ve been anticipating a rise in strokes for quite a while now.
“This lack of opportunity to identify risk factors for stroke coupled with increasing ambulance delays is a recipe for increased stroke mortality and disability in those that survive.”
The COVID-19 lockdowns continue to kill large numbers of people
https://www.yahoo.com/news/silent-crisis-soaring-excess-deaths-203000182.html
Silent crisis of soaring excess deaths gripping Britain is only tip of the iceberg
Sarah Knapton
August 18, 2022
Britain is in the grip of a new silent health crisis.
For 14 of the past 15 weeks, England and Wales have averaged around 1,000 extra deaths each week, none of which are due to Covid.
If the current trajectory continues, the number of non-Covid excess deaths will soon outstrip deaths from the virus this year – and be even more deadly than the omicron wave.
So what is going on? Experts believe decisions taken by the Government in the earliest stages of the pandemic may now be coming back to bite.
Policies that kept people indoors, scared them away from hospitals and deprived them of treatment and primary care are finally taking their toll.
Prof Robert Dingwall, of Nottingham Trent University, a former government adviser during the pandemic, said: “The picture seems very consistent with what some of us were suggesting from the beginning.
“We are beginning to see the deaths that result from delay and deferment of treatment for other conditions, like cancer and heart disease, and from those associated with poverty and deprivation.
“These come through more slowly – if cancer is not treated promptly, patients don’t die immediately but do die in greater numbers more quickly than would otherwise be the case.”
The Government has admitted that the majority of the excess deaths appear to be from circulatory issues and diabetes – long-term, chronic conditions that can be fatal without adequate care.
Such conditions were also likely to have been exacerbated by lockdowns and work-from-home edicts that increased sedentary lifestyles and alcohol intake at a time when Britain was already facing historic levels of obesity and heart disease.
Dr Charles Levison, the chief executive of Doctorcall, a private GP service, said: “People really, really struggled and so many did not get the help they needed. That has caused lasting damage.
“It is time that we had a proper national debate about this, with a full government investigation.”
The latest fallout could not be hitting the NHS at a worse time, when it is struggling to bring down the pandemic treatment backlog and failing to meet targets across the board.
Figures released last week showed that a record 29,317 patients were forced to endure 12-hour waits in accident and emergency in July, a rise of a third in a month.
The number of 12-hour A&E waits rose 33 per cent in July, with a record spike of 7,283 – up from 22,034 the previous month. Before the pandemic, the figure for the same month was just 450.
Latest figures show that heart attack or stroke patients in England waited more than half an hour longer for an ambulance to arrive in July, compared with before the pandemic – crucial minutes that could prove fatal.
Dr Charmaine Griffiths, the chief executive at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Right now, too many people with heart conditions are facing dangerously long waits for potentially life saving cardiac care.
“Cardiovascular disease is one of the nation’s biggest killers but getting seen on time can be the difference between life and death.”
There is growing frustration among health professionals that little is being done to highlight the excess death problems. When a similar number of people were dying from Covid each week, there was a clamour for greater restrictions.
Prof Carl Heneghan, the director of the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine at Oxford University, said excess deaths began to increase noticeably from around the end of April. They have stayed high compared with the past seven years.
“The signals in the data suggest something is not quite right,” he said. “Sustained rises in deaths should trigger an investigation that may involve accessing the raw data on death certificates, a random sample of medical notes or analysing autopsies.
“I feel there is a lack of clear thinking at the moment and, when it comes to people’s health and wellbeing, you can’t wait – it’s unacceptable.”
Huge numbers of the excess deaths appear to be happening at home, with 681 recorded in the latest release by the Office for National Statistics on Tuesday – 28.1 per cent above what would usually be expected.
Some experts think the excess deaths may still be people whose health was weakened by a Covid infection, which is known to increase the risk of stroke and heart attacks.
Research has also shown that people who have recovered from a Covid infection are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Dr Adam Jacobs, the senior director of biostatistics at Premier Research, said: “It’s certainly possible that just allowing millions of people to be infected could have increased deaths from cardiovascular disease as an indirect effect of Covid.”
However, others believe the excess deaths are likely to be a complex response to government policies and restrictions to tackle the virus.
Dr Tom Jefferson, also of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, added: “Clearly, Covid is not really an issue any more and instead there appears to be an increase in cardiovascular events and diabetes which fits in with a more sedentary lifestyles brought about by the pandemic restrictions.
“Increased alcohol and food intake, not exercising enough, stress, not getting treatment can all lead to strokes and heart attacks. Then you ring the ambulance and it doesn’t come.”
This week, the Department of Health and Social Care finally admitted that it is concerned about the figures. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has been analysing the excess deaths.
It is understood the Government is concerned that a combination of long delays for ambulances and emergency care, coupled with people missing out on routine checks and treatment due to the Covid response, is behind the increase.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Analysis is ongoing, however early investigation suggests circulatory diseases and diabetes may be partly responsible for the majority of excess deaths.
“The latest data highlight the importance of actively managing risks around heart issues as there is good evidence many of these deaths are potentially preventable.”
Getting to the bottom of what is behind the rise is likely to prove tricky, but it is imperative if we are to understand the true and lasting impact of policies to tackle Covid.
At the moment, the majority of excess deaths appear to be related to heart disease and diabetes, but it will only be a matter of time that people will start dying of longer-term conditions left untreated, such as cancer.
In July 2020, a government report warned that lockdowns could cause the deaths of 200,000 people because of delayed healthcare. At the time, those findings were largely ignored, as the Government was urged to press ahead with restrictions.
If that report holds true, the current excess deaths will be just the tip of the iceberg. Sadly, that iceberg was only too visible before we crashed into it.
Ted Cruz proposes a $10,000 scholarship for students in districts where the public schools are still closed
https://twitter.com/SenTedCruz/status/1368188283264581636
This private school has been open all school year, and has had zero in-school transmissions of COVID-19. And its tuition is far less than what the public schools spend. The real reason for keeping the public schools closed has nothing to do with COVID-19.
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
March 1, 2021
According to this article, zero cases of COVID-19 have been contracted at this private Catholic school in Philadelphia, which has been open for the entire school year so far.
For students who are not part of the school’s affiliated church, tuition is $6,332 yer year. It’s even less for students who are part of the church.
By comparison, the budget for Philadelphia’s public schools is $14,812 per student per year.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=School_District_of_Philadelphia&oldid=1002556395
This debunks the claim that public schools don’t have enough money to deal with COVID-19.
Somehow, this private school, with far less money per student, was able to open up, and have zero in-school cases of transmission.
Whatever the reason is for keeping the public schools closed, it has nothing to do with COVID-19.
In-person classes. Old buildings. Almost no COVID. Are Philly Catholic schools a blueprint?
By Avi Wolfman-Arent
February 21, 2021
Francesca Russo hesitates to acknowledge any good news without crossing herself and knocking on wood.
When it comes to COVID, the principal at St. Pio Regional Catholic School in South Philadelphia likes to cover her bases — physical and spiritual.
“We have not had many cases,” said Russo, who was a teacher at St. Pio’s for 19 years before becoming principal two years ago. “Thank goodness. Knock on some kind of wood. We did play it scary-mary safe.”
Each room at St. Pio’s has a window cracked and a door open. There’s a system for when students can use bathrooms between regular cleanings. And each desk has a three-panel barrier that students raise whenever they need to lower their masks.
Behind the barriers sit roughly 230 students, from pre-K through eighth grade, about the same number who occupied this building last year. They’ve been learning in a decades-old Catholic school five days a week since the school year began.
Five members of the school community have contracted COVID-19 since September, Russo says. One of them is among the school’s 15 all-virtual students. Three contracted the virus over winter break while school was closed. The fifth also contracted the virus outside of school.
So far, according to Russo, there’s been no in-school transmission.
“We love these kids,” said Russo. “We’d do anything to make sure they’re safe, protected, and happy.”
St. Pio’s is one of about 100 elementary schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia that has been open for full-time, face-to-face education since the school year began. Together, the schools host about 35,000 educators and children in buildings every day, according to the archdiocese. Archdiocesan high schools, meanwhile, have been open on a hybrid schedule.
While public debate swirls over whether the School District of Philadelphia should reopen school buildings on a part-time basis for about 9,000 pre-K through second grade students, another elementary system in the same region has opened its doors to nearly four times as many students. Leaders say they’ve managed to do so safely.
Schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia share the same geography as the city’s public schools. And perhaps more than any other school system in the region, the parochial sector shares the public schools’ legacy of contraction, tight budgets, and, in some places, aging infrastructure.
Yet, according to officials, Catholic elementary and high schools in the five-county region have recorded just one suspected instance of in-school transmission during the pandemic. Using bedrock mitigation strategies, the parochial system believes it’s kept kids safer in schools than they would’ve been in the outside world. They’re determined to keep it that way.
“We’re gonna hold the course until June,” said Andrew McLaughlin, the archdiocese’s secretary of elementary education.
Matt Meyer, the president of the Berkeley teachers union, says it’s too dangerous to open the public schools. But Meyer was just filmed taking his own daughter to a private school. I never trust anyone who isn’t willing to live under the same rules that they expect everyone else to live under. Clearly, the real reason for keeping the public schools closed has nothing to do with safety.
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
March 1, 2021
As I’ve said many times before, I never trust anyone who isn’t willing to live under the same rules that they expect everyone else to live under.
Matt Meyer, the president of the Berkeley teachers union, says it’s too dangerous to open the public schools.
But Meyer was just filmed taking his own daughter to a private school.
Clearly, the real reason for keeping the public schools closed has nothing to do with safety.
This from the the San Francisco affiliate of PBS:
After Leading School Closures, Berkeley Teachers Union President Spotted Dropping Daughter Off at In-Person Preschool
Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez
February 28, 2021
Parent groups are crying “hypocrisy” after a video surfaced showing the president of the Berkeley teachers union dropping off his 2-year-old daughter at an in-person preschool.
Matt Meyer, president of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, has fought for what he called the “gold standard” for the teachers he represents — saying Berkeley schools should only reopen to in-person learning when educators are vaccinated, among other criteria.
A tentative plan between the Berkeley Unified School District and Berkeley Federation of Teachers in mid-February would see preschoolers through second grade returning to class at the end of March and other grades staggering back to in-person learning through April, according to Berkeleyside.
But some Berkeley parents have claimed that the union is moving too slow and are pushing for earlier school reopenings. They have long argued — and the Center For Disease Control and Prevention has agreed — that schools are safe to reopen without vaccinations for all teachers.
Looking to prove a double-standard by the Berkeley Federation of Teachers union president, they followed Meyer and his 2-year-old daughter to her preschool, camera in hand. The footage they captured has ignited the ire of parents groups fighting teachers unions — and Meyer in particular.
“It’s completely opposite of what he’s pushing,” said Jonathan Zachreson, the founder of Reopen California Schools, which counts Berkeley parents among many of its members. “So why is that safe for him and those people who work there (at the preschool), but not for all of the kids in Berkeley Unified and the teachers? The answer is: It is safe.”
School Closures Have Failed America’s Children
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/opinion/covid-school-closures-children.html
School Closures Have Failed America’s Children
As many as three million children have gotten no education for nearly a year.
By Nicholas Kristof
February 24, 2021
Flags are flying at half-staff across the United States to commemorate the half-million American lives lost to the coronavirus.
But there’s another tragedy we haven’t adequately confronted: Millions of American schoolchildren will soon have missed a year of in-person instruction, and we may have inflicted permanent damage on some of them, and on our country.
The reluctance of many Republicans to wear masks and practice social distancing is one reason so many Americans are dead. But the educational losses are disproportionately the fault of Democratic governors and mayors who too often let schools stay closed even as bars opened.
The blunt fact is that it is Democrats — including those who run the West Coast, from California through Oregon to Washington State — who have presided over one of the worst blows to the education of disadvantaged Americans in history. The result: more dropouts, less literacy and numeracy, widening race gaps, and long-term harm to some of our most marginalized youth.
The San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank this month estimated that educational disruptions during this pandemic may increase the number of high school dropouts over 10 years by 3.8 percent, while also reducing the number of college-educated workers in the labor force. This will shrink the incomes of Americans for 70 years, until the last of today’s students leave the work force, the bank said.
What that doesn’t capture is the human toll. Rich kids going to private schools glide on through life mostly unaffected, while low-income children often don’t even have internet to attend Zoom classes. I’m writing this in rural Oregon, where some homes have neither internet nor cellphone service.
I wrote recently about my old buddy Mike Stepp, who dropped out of high school, couldn’t get a good job, self-medicated with alcohol and meth, and recently died homeless. I fear that our educational failures during this pandemic will produce countless more tragedies like Mike’s.
Bellwether Education Partners, a nonprofit focused on underserved students, estimates that as many as three million children in the United States have missed all formal education, in-person or virtual, for almost a year.
“We have to acknowledge that there is a large percentage of kids that have ‘disappeared’ — students who have never logged in, or logged in and never fully engaged,” said Melissa Connelly, chief executive of OneGoal, a nonprofit that does outstanding work with low-income high school students.
As of Jan. 29, almost 10 percent fewer high school seniors had submitted FAFSA financial aid forms, a sign that some are losing the chance to attend college.
Closures also exacerbate racial inequity. According to McKinsey & Company, fifth graders in schools with mostly students of color mastered only 37 percent of the math that usually would be expected.
Yes, it’s hard to open schools during a pandemic. But private schools mostly managed to, and that’s true not only of rich boarding schools but also of strapped Catholic schools. As a nation, we fought to keep restaurants and malls open — but we didn’t make schools a similar priority, so needy children were left behind.
“The evidence on remote learning suggests that despite the best efforts of teachers it doesn’t work for a large share of kids,” said Emily Oster, a Brown University economist who has studied the issue. “I think we’ve deprioritized children in a way that will do long-term damage.”
What are the risks of opening schools? We now have a great deal of data in the United States and abroad comparing areas that reopened schools versus those that kept them closed. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found, “in-person learning in schools has not been associated with substantial community transmission.” The British Medical Journal this week put it this way in an editorial: “Closing schools is not evidence based and harms children.”
Most evidence aligns with a careful Tulane study that found that in most of the United States, school openings do not increase coronavirus hospitalizations. And teachers generally don’t seem at greater risk than people in other occupations. While it’s crucial to improve ventilation, increase testing and maintain adequate spacing, those steps aren’t always possible — and failure to meet every benchmark shouldn’t be an automatic bar to in-person schooling.
Teachers in some places are suggesting that in-school instruction shouldn’t resume even after they are vaccinated, not until students are vaccinated as well. That’s an abdication of responsibility to America’s children.
Many Democrats seemed to become more suspicious of in-person schooling last summer when President Donald Trump called for it. We shouldn’t let ourselves be driven by ideology rather than science, and that wasn’t universal: Gov. Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island, a Democrat, worked hard to open schools, and kids there are better off because she did.
Maybe new variants of the virus will spread and require school closures — we should be relentlessly empirical — but that should be a last resort. Yes, there’s uncertainty. Sure, there are trade-offs. But serving kids in schools should be a higher priority than serving drinks in bars, and we should plan on summer school so lagging children can catch up.
For almost a year now, we as a country have failed millions of America’s most vulnerable children; we must right this wrong.
Gov. Noem never shut down South Dakota. Their unemployment rate just dropped to 3.0%. That’s lower than it was BEFORE the pandemic.
Gov. Noem never shut down South Dakota. Their unemployment rate just dropped to 3.0%. That’s lower than it was BEFORE the pandemic.
By Doc Holliday
January 22, 2021
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s response to the pandemic was an eminently American response. So of course the liberal media tried to crucify her for it.
But, as they say, you can’t argue with results.
https://twitter.com/govkristinoem/status/1352663063707623426
That’s how it’s done, ladies and gents, in my humble opinion.
We are seeing in living color the myriad terrible consequences of draconian lockdown orders. They may not be as easily quantifiable on a chart or graph, but we see them in our neighborhoods and schools and churches every day. People’s lives have been turned upside down and, in many cases, destroyed — not by a virus, but by state governments with authoritarian strategies.
Noem’s strategy, on the other hand, can, I think, can be summed up nicely in this one paragraph from an op-ed she wrote for the Wall Street Journal in December:
“Rather than following the pack and mandating harsh rules, South Dakota provides our residents with information about what is happening on the ground in our state—the science, facts and data. Then, we ask all South Dakotans to take personal responsibility for their health, the health of their loved ones, and—in turn—the health of our communities. The state hasn’t issued lockdowns or mask mandates. We haven’t shut down businesses or closed churches. In fact, our state has never even defined what an “essential business” is. That isn’t the government’s role.”
Provide free people accurate information and then trust free people to make their own decisions based on their own unique circumstances?
Still even more proof that the lockdown is a scam: New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham violated her own lockdown so she could buy jewelry
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
May 27, 2020
My list of reasons for why I’m against the lockdown keeps getting bigger and bigger. You can read my current list here: Here are 100 reasons why I’m against the COVID-19 lockdowns
Here’s one that I’ll be adding to my list the next time I update it.
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham violated her own lockdown so she could buy jewelry.
I know the lockdown is a scam when even the person who created it is not obeying it.
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Here are 200 reasons why I’m against the COVID-19 lockdowns
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
Note from Daniel Alman: I originally made this blog post on May 5, 2020. At the time, there were 34 things on the list. Since them, on multiple occasions, I have added other things to the list. The last time that I updated this list was on September 23, 2020.
Introduction
Please share the link to this list on Facebook, Twitter, email, message boards, etc. Thank you.
A lot of the people who support the COVID-19 lockdowns have said it’s because “lives are more important than money.”
But the lockdowns are actually killing far more people than they’re saving.
So instead of it being about “lives vs money,” it’s really about “fewer people dying vs more people dying.”
And yet, when I bring this up, lockdown supporters either ignore it, or they accuse me of not caring about people’s lives, or they say, “better safe than sorry.”
Before I get to my main list, here are some general facts about the lockdowns:
The COVIID-19 lockdowns will end up killing far more people than they save, in the form of increased suicides, increased drug and alcohol overdoses, and canceled and postponed medical procedures. For young and middle aged people who have healthy immune systems, being and poor and unemployed is more dangerous than having COVID-19.
The lockdowns are totalitarian.
The lockdowns are based on bogus computer models.
The real fatality rate of COVID-19 is far, far lower than the bogus, overinflated rate that was used to justify the lockdowns.
The alleged purpose of the lockdowns was to flatten the curve, and prevent the hospitals from being overwhelmed. But the hospitals were never even close to being overwhelmed. On the contrary, the U.S. health care system actually laid off more than a million health care workers during the lockdowns. And yet the lockdowns continue. This is proof that the lockdowns are a scam.
States with the toughest lockdowns forced nursing homes to admit patients who had tested positive for COVID-19. This is mass murder.
Many politicians and other high ranking government officials violated their own lockdowns.
Lockdown supporters want to destroy other people’s jobs, but not their own.
Previous pandemics did not destroy the economy, because there were no lockdowns.
Fresh air, sunshine, and exercise are good for your immune system, and actually reduce your chance of dying from COVID-19.
The government is falsely overstating the number of COVID-19 deaths by including people whose deaths were not actually caused by COVID-19.
And now, on with my list:
Here are 200 reasons why I’m against the COVID-19 lockdowns
1) Sweden did not have a lockdown. Experts predicted that it would have 40,000 COVID-19 deaths by May 1. The actual number was 2,769.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/05/05/sweden-suppressed-infection-rates-without-lockdown/
2) Nobel Prize-winning scientist: “the damage done by lockdown will exceed any saving of lives by a huge factor”
3) Keep parks open. The benefits of fresh air outweigh the risks of infection.
4) Dr. Deborah Birx admitted that the lockdown was based on a false, gross overstatement of the true fatality rate.
These are her exact words:
“I think we underestimated, very early on, the number of asymptomatic cases. And I think we’re really beginning to understand there are people that get infected — that those symptoms are so low-grade that they don’t even know that they’re infected”
https://www.theblaze.com/news/dr-birx-coronavirus-asymptomatic-cases
5) This is a scientific paper called “Full lockdown policies in Western Europe countries have no evident impacts on the COVID-19 epidemic.”
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.24.20078717v1.full.pdf
6) WHO lauds lockdown-ignoring Sweden as a ‘model’ for countries going forward
https://nypost.com/2020/04/29/who-lauds-sweden-as-model-for-resisting-coronavirus-lockdown/
7) Do Lockdowns Save Many Lives? In Most Places, the Data Say No.
8) This is from a medical paper:
“The COVID-19 death risk in people <65 years old during the period of fatalities from the epidemic was equivalent to the death risk from driving between 9 miles per day (Germany) and 415 miles per day (New York City)”
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.05.20054361v1
Note from Daniel Alman: The above may be a good reason for a lockdown in the New York City metro area (which includes parts of New Jersey and Connecticut), but certainly not for the rest of the U.S. And certainly not for Germany.
9) A report by the United Nations cites the predicted harm that will happen to tens of millions of children in low income countries as a result of the COVID-19 global wide shutdown.
Examples of this harm to children include increases in malnutrition, loss of education, increased rates of teen pregnancy, reduced access to health care, reduced rates of vaccination, increased rates of infectious disease, increased rates of water borne illness, and increased rates of death:
https://unsdg.un.org/sites/default/files/2020-04/160420_Covid_Children_Policy_Brief.pdf
10) Here in Sweden we’re playing the long game, and listening to science not fear
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/sweden/articles/sweden-coronavirus-policy/
11) All across the country, huge numbers of hospitals have laid off huge numbers of health care workers. Here are some examples:
Coronavirus financial losses prompt Boston Medical Center to furlough 700 employees, 10% of hospital’s workforce
Kentucky hospital chain furloughs about 500 employees as coronavirus saps business
https://www.kentucky.com/news/coronavirus/article241565211.html
A mounting casualty crisis: Health care jobs
https://www.sungazette.com/news/top-news/2020/04/a-mounting-casualty-crisis-health-care-jobs/
Four West Virginia hospitals lay off hundreds because of coronavirus-related shrinking revenues
Thousands of US medical workers furloughed, laid off as routine patient visits drop during coronavirus pandemic
I Can’t Get My Hip Surgery Because Of Coronavirus Even Though Nobody Is In Our Hospital
MUSC Health lays off 900 due to COVID-19 financial strain
Oklahoma City hospital closed amid coronavirus spread
Even nation’s largest health systems laying off health care workers amid COVID pandemic
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/coronavirus-victim-americas-largest-health-systems/story?id=70317683
We’re destroying hospitals in the name of fighting the coronavirus
https://nypost.com/2020/04/27/were-destroying-hospitals-in-the-name-of-fighting-the-coronavirus/
Mayo Clinic to furlough or cut pay of 30,000 employees
https://www.foxnews.com/science/mayo-clinic-furlough-or-cut-pay-employees
Coronavirus testing company Quest Diagnostics furloughs workers
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-testing-company-quest-diagnostics-furloughs-workers/
12) U.S. medical testing, cancer screenings plunge during coronavirus outbreak – data firm analysis
13) New York Times: “Some medical experts fear more people are dying from untreated emergencies than from the coronavirus.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/25/health/coronavirus-heart-stroke.html
14) As of April 22, 2020, New York and New Jersey, combined, accounted for more than half of U.S. COVID-19 deaths. Both of these states require nursing homes to admit patients who have tested positive for COVID-19. In my opinion, this policy constitutes mass murder. Instead of shutting everything down, New York and New Jersey should stop committing mass murder.
As of the afternoon of April 22, 2020, the U.S. has had a total of 46,771 deaths from COVID-19.
20,167 were in New York.
5,063 were in New Jersey.
In other words, as of April 22, 2020, these two states, combined, accounted for more than half of all COVID-19 deaths in the entire country.
Here’s a link to my source, with a screenshot. The screenshot was taken on the afternoon of April 22, 2020:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/
Both of these states require nursing homes to admit patients who have tested positive for COVID-19.
NPR recently reported:
New York and New Jersey both have ordered nursing homes to admit patients regardless of their COVID-19 status.
In my opinion, this policy constitutes mass murder.
Nursing home patients are elderly. And they have major health conditions. No one is more vulnerable to dying from COVID-19 than people in nursing homes.
Ordering nursing homes to admit patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 is an extremely mean, dumb, stupid, irrational, irresponsible, and insane thing to do.
This policy has already killed a huge numbers of people.
And who knows how many more will die as a result.
Instead of shutting everything down, New York and New Jersey should stop committing mass murder.
15) Cancer surgeries and organ transplants are being put off for coronavirus
16) How the COVID-19 lockdown will take its own toll on health
17) Higher rates of unemployment correlate very strongly with higher rates of suicide and drug overdoses
18) This five minute video from Bill Maher is my #1 favorite argument against the lockdowns
https://twitter.com/billmaher/status/1256425181960003585
I worry that the past two months of quarantine have given people the idea that the way for humans to win our million-year war with microbes is to avoid them completely, and I’m here to tell you: you can’t. pic.twitter.com/cMxefDdJ7S
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) May 2, 2020
19) Hypocrite New York Times writer Taylor Lorenz wants to shut down other people’s jobs, but not her own
This is a link to the internet archive of her tweet, and a screen capture of her tweet:
20) Here’s another hypocrite who wants to shut down other people’s jobs, but not her own
The woman in this article and video ratted out local businesses.
Then someone published her name on the internet.
Now the woman is worried that she might lose her own job:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYhvc_86HsI
21) Illinois Gov. Who Forced State Lockdown Busted Flying His Wife And Kids To Florida
22) Chicago Mayor Forced To Defend Getting A Haircut In Violation Of Her Own Stay-At-Home Order
23) Barack Obama Goes Golfing at Country Club the Day After Michelle Urged African Americans to Stay Home
24) Video: Wisconsin Deputies Threaten a Mother For Letting Her Daughter Play At a Neighbor’s Home During Shutdown
https://twitter.com/MediaRival/status/1255537595553112065
Caught On Video: A pair of Wisconsin police officers on a crazed power trip show up at a woman’s home because she “violated a state order” by allowing her daughter to play at a neighbor’s house pic.twitter.com/JTtogvoE1X
— Darrin McBreen (@MediaRival) April 29, 2020
25) Mississippi police issue $500 tickets to drive-in church service attendees
26) NYC Mayor Threatens to Shut Down Synagogues, Churches: But not Mosques
27) De Blasio Breaks Up Rabbi’s Funeral
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/28/nyregion/hasidic-funeral-coronavirus-de-blasio.html
28) The First Amendment protects freedom of religion
29) The First amendment protects freedom of assembly
30) Tucker Carlson: Totalitarianism doesn’t shock us any more
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KACUbQjvrk
31) Shutting down the schools is reprehensible.
The harm that this will end up causing children will be very large, and very long lasting.
Not just academically, but also psychologically, socially, and professionally.
We are teaching children to be terrified of something that, in reality, is not even a statistical threat or risk to them.
COVID-19 death rate by age in the U.S.:
https://www.businessinsider.com/most-us-coronavirus-deaths-ages-65-older-cdc-report-2020-3
Perhaps for the time being, schools should only have teachers who are below a certain age – perhaps 50. Or maybe 60.
We should isolate people who are especially vulnerable.
And we should let children go to school, get infected, and build up herd immunity.
We shouldn’t let children near their grandparents until their infection has cleared, they have developed antibodies, and they are no longer contagious.
32) The 1968 flu killed approximately 100,000 people in the U.S. But we still kept the schools open. And the restaurants. And the movie theaters.
33) Should we keep everything closed until there are zero germs in the world? Good luck with that!
34) The entire justification for the lockdowns was a lie.
The alleged justification for the lockdowns was that we had to flatten the curve so the hospitals did not get overwhelmed.
The hospitals did not get overwhelmed.
On the contrary, all across the country, huge number of hospitals are laying off huge numbers of health care workers. (see #11 on this list for many examples.)
But the lockdowns are still going on.
Therefore, the entire justification for the lockdowns was a lie.
35) A study of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in New York showed that 66% of them were people who stayed home
36) Government scientist Neil Ferguson, who was responsible for creating the lockdown in the U.K., violated it when he invited his mistress to visit him
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/05/05/exclusive-government-scientist-neil-ferguson-resigns-breaking/
37) The governors in more than 30 states banned elective medical procedures, even though there was plenty of excess health care capacity available to perform these elective procedures.
The word “elective” refers to any medical procedure that is scheduled in advance.
Examples of elective medical procedures that were postponed or canceled include cancer treatment, organ transplants, and hip surgery.
There was no need to ban elective procedures, because there was still plenty of excess health care capacity available. All across the country, huge numbers of hospitals laid off huge numbers of health care workers. See #11 on this list for many examples.
38) Some of the governors who banned elective medical procedures were hypocrites, because they gave an exemption to abortion.
I’m not using this blog post to argue for, or against, the legality of abortion.
Instead, what I am criticizing here is the hypocrisy of these governors.
For example, Politico reported:
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy was one of a handful of Democratic leaders to explicitly carve out an exception for “the full range of family planning services and procedures, including terminations of pregnancies” from his executive order that suspends elective surgeries.
As another example, the Lansing State Journal reported:
Reproductive health clinics in Michigan are still providing abortion services, citing an exemption for “pregnancy-related visits and procedures” in Gov. Whitmer’s executive order restricting non-essential medical services.
Likewise, the New Boston Post reported:
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has exempted elective abortions from the statewide ban on elective surgery during the coronavirus precautionary restrictions.
Furthermore, Virginia’s official government website reported:
Governor Ralph Northam and State Health Commissioner M. Norman Oliver, MD, MA today directed all hospitals to stop performing elective surgeries or procedures…
The public health emergency order does not apply to… family planning services
Also, the Washington Free Beacon reported:
Pennsylvania Allows Planned Parenthood to Perform Abortions Despite Elective Surgery Ban
39) They’re using COVID-19 as an excuse to release convicted criminals, and to jail the innocent
This article is called
“So Far, More Than 300 Prisoners Released Due To COVID-19 Under Mass. High Court’s Ruling.”
Meanwhile, this other article is called
“Dallas salon owner jailed for defying virus shutdown order.”
40) As of May 6, 2020, only 7% of Pennsylvania’s hospital beds were being used to treat COVID-19 patients. However, the state continues with its lockdown anyway. This proves that the lockdown is a scam.
The alleged purpose of the lockdown was to flatten the curve, so that hospital resources would not be overwhelmed.
As of May 6, 2020, only 7% of Pennsylvania’s hospital beds were being used to treat COVID-19 patients.
Despite this, the Pennsylvania lockdown continues.
This proves that the lockdown is a scam.
http://www.repturzai.com/Display/SiteFiles/333/OtherDocuments/2020/LettertoMembersHealthDataMay6.pdf
41) End all restrictions, they were unnecessary, Hebrew University researchers say
https://www.timesofisrael.com/end-all-restrictions-they-were-unnecessary-hebrew-university-researchers-say/
42) Years of life lost due to the psychosocial consequences of COVID19 mitigation strategies based on Swiss data
A scientific paper states:
Background: The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has forced governments to implement strict social mitigation strategies to reduce the morbidity and mortality from acute infections. These strategies however carry a significant risk for mental health which can lead to increased short-term and long-term mortality and is currently not included in modelling the impact of the pandemic. Methods: We used years of life lost (YLL) as the main outcome measure as applied to Switzerland as an exemplar. We focused on suicide, depression, alcohol use disorder, childhood trauma due to domestic violence, changes in marital status and social isolation as these are known to increase YLL in the context of imposed restriction in social contact and freedom of movement. We stipulated a minimum duration of mitigation of 3 months based on current public health plans. Results: The study projects that the average person would suffer 0.205 YLL due to psychosocial consequence of COVID-19 mitigation measures. However, this loss would be entirely borne by 2.1% of the population, who will suffer an average 9.79 YLL. Conclusions: The results presented here are likely to underestimate the true impact of the mitigation strategies on YLL. However, they highlight the need for public health models to expand their scope in order to provide better estimates of the risks and benefits of mitigation.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.17.20069716v3
43) Elon Musk said:
“Frankly, this is the final straw. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependen on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in CA.”
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1259162367285317633
Frankly, this is the final straw. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependen on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in CA.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2020
https://www.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-says-tesla-immediately-173400044.html
44) Health care industry decimated by coronavirus, loses 1.4 million jobs
45) LA Mayor Garcetti encourages residents to report violators of stay-at-home order: ‘Snitches get rewards’
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/la-mayor-garcetti-residents-report-violators-stay-at-home-order
46) Take the Shutdown Skeptics Seriously
The Atlantic wrote:
Take the Shutdown Skeptics Seriously
Americans should carefully consider the potential costs of prolonged shutdowns lest they cause more deaths or harm to the vulnerable than they spare…
… minimizing the number of COVID-19 deaths today or a month from now or six months from now may or may not minimize the human costs of the pandemic when the full spectrum of human consequences is considered…
… the warnings of thoughtful shutdown skeptics warrant careful study…
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/take-shutdown-skeptics-seriously/611419/
47) Anxiety from reactions to Covid-19 will destroy at least seven times more years of life than can be saved by lockdowns
https://www.justfacts.com/news_covid-19_anxiety_lockdowns_life_destroyed_saved
Anxiety From Reactions to Covid-19 Will Destroy At Least Seven Times More Years of Life Than Can Be Saved by Lockdowns
By Andrew Glen, Ph.D. and James D. Agresti
Medical studies show that excessive stress and anxiety are among the most debilitating and deadly of all health hazards in the world. Beyond their obvious effects like suicide and substance abuse—these mental stressors are strongly related to and may trigger and inflame a host of ailments like high blood pressure, digestive disorders, heart conditions, infectious diseases, cancer, and pregnancy complications.
Based on a broad array of scientific data, Just Facts has computed that the anxiety created by reactions to Covid-19—such as stay-at-home orders, business shutdowns, media exaggerations, and legitimate concerns about the virus—will destroy at least seven times more years of human life than can possibly be saved by lockdowns to control the spread of the disease. This figure is a bare minimum, and the actual one is likely more than 90 times greater.
This study was reviewed by Joseph P. Damore, Jr., M.D., who concluded: “This research is engaging and thoroughly answers the question about the cure being worse than the disease.” Dr. Damore is a certified diplomate with the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, an assistant attending psychiatrist at New York Presbyterian Hospital, and an adjunct professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at the U.S. Military Academy.
48) Politicians Lied About the Lockdowns
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z76h6A2vnZ8
49) Video allegedly shows that once the cameras are off reporters remove their masks and don’t follow social distancing rules
https://twitter.com/Z_Eats_Bacon/status/1260091180190240768
Explain to me why the media takes their masks off when they think the cameras are off? Is it all for show? #fakenews #LamestreamMedia looks like the rules only apply to us peasants. #obamagate #qanon pic.twitter.com/rlET581ytJ
— Big Z 🇺🇸🇵🇱 (@Z_Eats_Bacon) May 12, 2020
50) Hypocrite Beaumont, Texas mayor Becky Ames thinks everyone except herself should be banned from going to nail salons
Becky Ames is the mayor of Beaumont, Texas.
She ordered all the nail salons in her city to lockdown.
However, she violated her own lockdown by allowing one specific nail salon to be open just so she herself could go there to get her nails done.
NBC News reported: (the bolding is mine)
The mayor of a southern Texas city apologized for violating her own stay-at-home order after a photo surfaced on social media of her at a nail salon.
The trip Tuesday by Beaumont Mayor Becky Ames to the closed salon has sparked an investigation by the district attorney.
In the image, the mayor is seen wearing a face mask as she’s seated at a table with her hands in a bowl of water. According to NBC affiliate KBMT in Beaumont, the photo was taken at The Nail Bar.
The NBC News article has a link to this picture of mayor Ames getting her nails done at the salon:
51) Small business used to define America’s economy. The pandemic could change that forever.
52) PA Health Secretary moved mother out of personal care home after ordering nursing homes to accept COVID patients
https://dailycaller.com/2020/05/13/coronavirus-pennsylvania-rachel-levine-mother-nursing-home/
53) Boy Scouts banned from planting American flags on veterans’ graves for Memorial Day due to coronavirus
https://www.foxnews.com/us/boy-scouts-banned-memorial-day-coronavirus-veterans
54) Sheriff rejects call by Virginia governor to enforce lockdown, cites Constitution
55) Totalitarian Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered a barber named Karl Manke to stop cutting hair. Then she rejected his claim for unemployment compensation. In order to pay for food, he continued cutting hair. Then she suspended his license, without so much as even a hearing or due process. And she won’t let him grow his own food. Apparently, she wants him to starve to death.
Karl Manke is a barber in Michigan. He’s been running his own barbershop since 1961.
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered barbershops to close. Her alleged reason was that we had to flatten the curve, so hospitals would not be overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.
The curve has been flatted. The hospitals have not been overwhelmed.
Despite this, governor Whitmer will still not allow barbershops to open.
Manke applied for unemployment compensation, but was rejected.
In order to pay for food, Manke continues to operate his barbershop.
Governor Whitmer suspended Manke’s professional license and his license for his barbershop, without so much as even a hearing or due process.
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer is a totalitarian who wants to force Karl Manke to starve to death.
Governor Whitmer’s intent to force Manke to starve to death is so strong that she won’t even let him grow his own food. She has ordered big box stores to prevent customers from having access to certain sections of the store, including gardening supplies.
Hers are the exact words of Governor Whitmer’s order from her official government website. The bolding is mine: (Original, archive)
“For stores of more than 50,000 square feet… Close areas of the store – by cordoning them off, placing signs in aisles, posting prominent signs, removing goods from shelves, or other appropriate means—that are dedicated to the following classes of goods: Carpet or flooring. Furniture. Garden centers and plant nurseries. Paint.”
Only a totalitarian would be in favor of such a government policy.
56) Wisconsin Supreme Court strikes down stay-at-home order
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/13/us/coronavirus-wisconsin-supreme-court.html
57) Cyril H. Wecht, one of the country’s most well regarded doctors, made an excellent argument against the lockdown
58) Remy: Surfin’ USA (Beach Boys Lockdown Parody)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r-6s6cRGgA
59) Scott Adams: “Is every risk factor for #COVID19 a Vitamin D deficiency in disguise?”
Scott Adams wrote:
“Is every risk factor for #COVID19 a Vitamin D deficiency in disguise? Google it: old, overweight, black, diabetic, smog dwellers, nursing homes, prisons, shaded NYC streets, Chinese urban dwellers, covered body parts (Iran). All would have vitamin D issues.”
“Maybe we only think the heat and sunlight and humidity are what makes most viruses fade in summer. I believe science is not entirely sure why summer helps. All four variables seem promising, including Vitamin D. But the latter explains more observations.”
“Does the Vitamin D correlation work In reverse too? Who is doing unexpectedly well at keeping COVID19 at bay? Texas, Florida, other outdoorsy states. How about kids. Do your kids wear sunscreen every time they go in the backyard or street? Probably not.”
“Prisons are showing high infection rates but low deaths. Just learned that prison meals are engineered with vitamin D supplements. Makes sense.”
https://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1258559176512376832
Is every risk factor for #COVID19 a Vitamin D deficiency in disguise? Google it: old, overweight, black, diabetic, smog dwellers, nursing homes, prisons, shaded NYC streets, Chinese urban dwellers, covered body parts (Iran). All would have vitamin D issues.
— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) May 8, 2020
https://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1258559177279987712
Maybe we only think the heat and sunlight and humidity are what makes most viruses fade in summer. I believe science is not entirely sure why summer helps. All four variables seem promising, including Vitamin D. But the latter explains more observations.
— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) May 8, 2020
https://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1258559178102018048
Does the Vitamin D correlation work In reverse too? Who is doing unexpectedly well at keeping COVID19 at bay? Texas, Florida, other outdoorsy states. How about kids. Do your kids wear sunscreen every time they go in the backyard or street? Probably not.
— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) May 8, 2020
https://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1258730616759046144
Update: Prisons are showing high infection rates but low deaths. Just learned that prison meals are engineered with vitamin D supplements. Makes sense.
— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) May 8, 2020
60) This COVID-19 meme quote from Handmaid’s Tale is spot-on accurate. And the person is even wearing a mask over her mouth!
I found this meme at this link: https://i.redd.it/pdhed3wxszy41.png
61) ‘The curve has been flattened’: Michigan doctors sue Gov Whitmer over shutdown order
62) I created this meme
Click this link to see a bigger version: https://danfromsquirrelhill.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/woodstock-meme.jpg
63) Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of Illinois Department of Public Health,
admitted that the government is falsely overstating the number of people who died from COVID-19.
She said:
“… if you died of clear alternative cause, but you had COVID at the same time, it’s still listed as a COVID death…”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljpHugKNcoI
64) New York and New Jersey both required nursing homes to admit patients who had tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, Florida prohibited nursing homes from admitting such patients. The different results of these different policies are exactly what you would expect.
New York and New Jersey both required nursing homes to admit patients who had tested positive for COVID-19.
Florida did the opposite. It prohibited patients who had tested positive for COVID-19 from being put in nursing homes.
The different results of these different policies are exactly what you would expect.
The Palm Beach Post reported the following rates of elder-care resident deaths per 100,000 people:
Florida: 3.5
New York: nearly 27
New Jersey: 51
65) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez apparently blames Trump for the fact that New York and New Jersey forced nursing homes to admit patients who had tested positive for COVID-19. And she apparently doesn’t know that Florida’s sunshine is good for your immune system. And she apparently thinks Florida’s death rate is higher than New York’s and New Jersey’s.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gets so many different things wrong in the video below.
New York and New Jersey both required nursing homes to admit patients who had tested positive for COVID-19. This caused the disease to spread, and infect, and kill, a huge number of people who lived in these nursing homes.
But instead of blaming these deaths on New York and New Jersey, Ocasio-Cortez apparently blames them on Trump.
Meanwhile, Florida banned nursing homes from admitting patients who had tested positive for COVID-19. This saved a huge number of lives.
But instead of praising Florida’s actions, Ocasio-Cortez criticizes the state.
Ocasio-Cortez also apparently doesn’t understand that the sunshine at Florida’s beaches helps people’s bodies to generate vitamin D, and that this helps to protect them from COVID-19.
Also, Ocasio-Cortez apparently doesn’t seem to understand that just about every single mass outbreak of COVID-19 that has been documented, happened inside.
And Ocasio-Cortez apparently thinks that Florida’s death rate is higher than New York’s and New Jersey’s.
But here are the real numbers. COVID-19 deaths per 1 million population, as of May 17, 2020. Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/
New York: 1,446
New Jersey: 1,155
Florida: 92
https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/1245651038977179653
Ocasio-Cortez blames only Trump and Republicans for the deaths of every American who dies from the coronavirus
Everything she says in this video is either misleading or an outright lie pic.twitter.com/csX7ybFaON
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) April 2, 2020
66) Risk of coronavirus spreading in schools is ‘extremely low’ study finds
https://www.yahoo.com/news/risk-coronavirus-spreading-schools-extremely-194143983.html
67) Stanford University doctor: ‘You are mistaken’ if you think coronavirus lockdowns provide safety
https://www.theblaze.com/news/stanford-university-doctor-mistaken-coronavirus-lockdowns
68) CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins caught removing face mask when she thought camera was off
https://twitter.com/realPowerTie/status/1261445611594723330
The mask is for show? pic.twitter.com/XnRLiEJ1L5
— Power Tie (@realPowerTie) May 15, 2020
69) Totalitarian Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf just forced my dental hygienist to cancel my 6 month teeth cleaning
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
May 18, 2020
I’m 49 years old. I’ve lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, my entire life. I’ve been getting my teeth cleaned at the same dental practice ever since I was a little kid in the 1970s.
My 6 month teeth cleaning had been scheduled for tomorrow.
But they just called to tell me that it has been canceled, because they are “not allowed” to do teeth cleaning at this point in time.
70) Relapses are through the roof, overdoses are through the roof: How the pandemic is upping substance abuse
… They can’t go to a 12-step based meeting…
… People are self-medicating due to the quarantine. And they’re drinking more, and abusing more, and relapses are through the roof right now.
71) Neil Ferguson’s Imperial model “could go down in history as the most devastating software mistake of all time, in terms of economic costs and lives lost”
72) Childhood vaccine rates plummet amid coronavirus pandemic, risking new health crisis
Childhood vaccine rates for preventable diseases like measles and whooping cough have fallen during the COVID-19 pandemic, raising the possibility of an additional health crisis.
In New York City… the number of vaccine doses administered from March 23 to May 9 fell 63 percent compared with the same period last year.
In children older than 2 years, it fell 91 percent…
… Doctors offices have been closed…
… The numbers in New York match a national trend…
… from mid-March to mid-April, doctors in the federally funded Vaccines for Children program for the uninsured ordered about 2.5 million fewer doses of all routine non-influenza vaccines and 250,000 fewer doses of measles-containing vaccines compared to the same period in 2019…
73) Rise in female genital mutilation in Somalia linked to coronavirus shutdown
Somali girls out of school and stuck at home have been subject to a “massive rise” in female genital mutilation…
“It’s a lifetime torture for girls. The pain continues … until the girl goes to the grave. It impacts her education, ambition … everything.”
… the UNFPA has warned that globally 2 million more girls could be cut over the next decade because of how the global pandemic has disrupted efforts to end the practice.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/19/coronavirus-update-us/
74) Who Are The REAL Fascists?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UQS9oUQ9I0
75) More than 500 doctors signed this letter:
https://www.scribd.com/document/462319362/A-Doctor-a-Day-Letter-Signed#fullscreen&from_embed
In medical terms, the shutdown was a mass casualty incident.
During a mass casualty incident, victims are immediately triaged to black, red, yellow, or green. The first group, triage level black, includes those who require too many resources to save during a mass crisis. The red group has severe injuries that are survivable with treatment, the yellow group has serious injuries that are not immediately life threatening, and the green group has minor injuries.
The red group receives highest priority. The next priority is to ensure that the other two groups do not deteriorate a level. Decades of research have shown that by strictly following this algorithm, we save the maximum number of lives.
Millions of Americans are already at triage level red. These include 150,000 Americans per month who would have had a new cancer detected through routine screening that hasn’t happened, millions who have missed routine dental care to fix problems strongly linked to heart disease/death, and preventable cases of stroke, heart attack, and child abuse. Suicide hotline phone calls have increased 600%.
Tens of millions are at triage level yellow. Liquor sales have increased 300-600%, cigarettes sales have increased, rent has gone unpaid, family relationships have become frayed, and millions of well-child check-ups have been missed.
Hundreds of millions are at triage level green. These are people who currently are solvent, but at risk should economic conditions worsen. Poverty and financial uncertainty is closely linked to poor health.
A continued shutdown means hundreds of millions of Americans will downgrade a level. The following are real examples from our practices.
Patient E.S. is a mother with two children whose office job was reduced to part-time and whose husband was furloughed. The father is drinking more, the mother is depressed and not managing her diabetes well, and the children are barely doing any schoolwork.
Patient A.F. has chronic but previously stable health conditions. Her elective hip replacement was delayed, which caused her to become nearly sedentary, resulting in a pulmonary embolism in April.
Patient R.T. is an elderly nursing home patient, who had a small stroke in early March but was expected to make a nearly complete recovery. Since the shutdown, he has had no physical or speech therapy, and no visitors. He has lost weight, and is deteriorating rather than making progress.
Patient S.O. is a college freshman who cannot return to normal life, school, and friendships. He risks depression, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, trauma, and future financial uncertainty.
We are alarmed at what appears to be the lack of consideration for the future health of our patients. The downstream health effects of deteriorating a level are being massively under-estimated and under-reported. This is an order of magnitude error.
It is impossible to overstate the short, medium, and long-term harm to people’s health with a continued shutdown. Losing a job is one of life’s most stressful events, and the effect on a person’s health is not lessened because it also has happened to 30 million other people. Keeping schools and universities closed is incalculably detrimental for children, teenagers, and young adults for decades to come.
The millions of casualties of a continued shutdown will be hiding in plain sight, but they will be called alcoholism, homelessness, suicide, heart attack, stroke, or kidney failure. In youths it will be called financial instability, unemployment, despair, drug addiction, unplanned pregnancies, poverty, and abuse.
Because the harm is diffuse, there are those who hold that it does not exist. We, the undersigned, know otherwise.
76) Ohio judge deems the state’s COVID-19 lockdown ‘Arbitrary, unreasonable, and oppressive’
77) New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio does not understand math
According to the CDC, for children who contract COVID-19, the death rate is zero:
https://www.businessinsider.com/most-us-coronavirus-deaths-ages-65-older-cdc-report-2020-3
And here’s a recent news headline:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/risk-coronavirus-spreading-schools-extremely-194143983.html
Risk of coronavirus spreading in schools ‘extremely low’, study finds
Despite those two pieces of information, this is a recent tweet by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio:
https://twitter.com/NYCMayor/status/1262509072051470340
Earlier today the NYPD shut down a Yeshiva conducting classes with as many as 70 children. I can’t stress how dangerous this is for our young people. We’re issuing a Cease and Desist Order and will make sure we keep our communities and our kids safe.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) May 18, 2020
The text of de Blasio’s tweet says: (the bolding is mine)
“Earlier today the NYPD shut down a Yeshiva conducting classes with as many as 70 children. I can’t stress how dangerous this is for our young people. We’re issuing a Cease and Desist Order and will make sure we keep our communities and our kids safe.”
Clearly, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio does not understand math.
78) Dr. Mike deBoisblanc, head of the trauma department at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, California, said, “… we’ve seen a year’s worth of suicide attempts in the last four weeks…”
https://abc7news.com/suicide-covid-19-coronavirus-rates-during-pandemic-death-by/6201962/
79) “rampant unemployment, isolation and an uncertain future – could lead to 75,000 deaths from drug or alcohol abuse and suicide”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-deaths-suicides-drugs-alcohol-pandemic-75000/
80) More people died of suicide than coronavirus in Tennessee last week
81) In Washington state, people who were killed by gunshots were falsely counted as being killed by COVID-19
https://www.kxly.com/three-percent-of-washingtons-reported-covid-19-deaths-may-be-inaccurate/
82) Barber who defied Michigan coronavirus lockdown can continue, says court
83) De Blasio shredded for encouraging New Yorkers to rat out social distancing violators. “Urging citizens to film non-compliant individuals reminds me of one of the tactics utilized in the country where he spent his honeymoon, Cuba.”
84) Poll: Democrats much more likely than Republicans to snitch on neighbors for ‘lockdown’ violations
85) Downstate judge blasts Pritzker’s stay-at-home-order: ‘Americans don’t get ruled’
86) New Zealand health minister demoted after beach visit broke lockdown rules
87) Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick visited his parents during Covid-19 lockdown
88) Scotland’s chief medical officer Catherine Calderwood steps down after visiting second home twice despite advice to stay in
89) Pressure on Dominic Cummings (Boris Johnson’s key adviser) to quit over lockdown breach
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/may/22/dominic-cummings-durham-trip-coronavirus-lockdown
90) AP count: Over 4,500 virus patients sent to NY nursing homes
91) Dr. Anthony Fauci says staying closed for too long could cause ‘irreparable damage’
92) Indonesian researchers, Prabowo Raharusuna, MD, and colleagues, studied 780 confirmed cases of COVID-19, of which 380 died and 400 survived… Vitamin D as a Risk Factor: When adjusted for confounds — i.e., age, sex, and comorbidity — those with vitamin D insufficiency were still “approx. 7.63 times more likely to die,” and those with vitamin D deficiency were sill “approx. 10.12 times more likely to die,”
93) Minnesota nursing homes, already the site of 81% of COVID-19 deaths, continue taking in infected patients
94) In the U.S., the first nine weeks of the lockdown caused 38 million people to lose their jobs
95) While Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer forced barbershops to close for being “dangerous,” she allowed a gay swinger’s club with “glory holes” and anonymous, unprotected sex to remain open
Note from Daniel Alman: I’m a libertarian. I’m against the government shutting down either one of these things. I don’t care what consenting adults do in private. My objection is not to the sex club. Instead, my objection is to Whitmer’s hypocrisy.
96) Minnesota governor Tim Walz tried to give churches a longer lockdown than shopping malls, casinos, tattoo parlors, liquor stores, and salons
97) Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer’s husband sought boat launching during state of emergency. Boating had been banned during the state of emergency.
98) Why didn’t the 1958 and 1918 pandemics destroy the economy? Hint: it’s the lockdowns
https://mises.org/wire/why-didnt-1958-and-1918-pandemics-destroy-economy-hint-its-lockdowns
99) Virginia governor Ralph Northam wants to force everyone, except himself, to wear a mask
https://twitter.com/DRCUSALiberty/status/1264357580341686273
— David Carter (@DRCUSALiberty) May 24, 2020
100) LA County sheriff’s deputies arrested a paddle boarder for violating the state’s stay-at-home order
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcjyQm2KRnE
101) Mask hypocrisy at MSNBC
https://twitter.com/EddieZipperer/status/1265374806662397953
INSTANT CLASSIC FROM @MSNBC:
ANCHOR: “Are the people there just not worried about it? Are they not worried about their personal safety?”
REPORTER: “I haven’t met anybody who is… you can see here, nobody’s wearing them [masks].”
GUY ON STREET: “Including the Cameraman.” pic.twitter.com/h9HbbIqNVh
— Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) May 26, 2020
102) New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio violates his own government’s recommendations and hits the gym in Brooklyn amid the coronavirus shutdown
https://www.businessinsider.com/nyc-mayor-bill-de-blasio-goes-ymca-announcing-closure-gyms-2020-3
103) New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham violated her own lockdown so she could buy jewelry
104) CNN interviews Alabama beachgoers not wearing masks, gets owned after photos surface of maskless reporter
https://twitter.com/SteveKrak/status/1265457232843624451
A @FourthWatch reader sent me these images of CNN’s @GaryTuchmanCNN filming this report from Alabama yesterday – wearing a mask while walking the beach and interviewing people – but removing his mask when the cameras were off.https://t.co/7bW6Wz3bGm pic.twitter.com/qikHrsOekZ
— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) May 27, 2020
105) The fatality rate of COVID-19 “would probably be 0.13 percent for people outside nursing homes”
106) A scientific study said, “Home outbreaks were the dominant category (254 of 318 outbreaks; 79.9%)”
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.04.20053058v1.full.pdf
107) NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo admits that all the COVID-19 projections ‘were all wrong’
https://www.theblaze.com/news/cuomo-projections-wrong
108) Chicago pastor claims the mayor sent armed police in unmarked cars to bang on the church doors Sunday: It was ‘like the Soviet-styled KGB’
https://www.theblaze.com/news/chicago-pastor-mayor-armed-police
109) Minnesota Governor Tim Walz: Restrictions will stay In place “until we get a vaccine”
https://twitter.com/KyleHooten2/status/1264694781101432833
“Flatten the curve” has turned into keeping restrictions in place “until we get a vaccine,” per Minnesota Gov. Walz. pic.twitter.com/GQrat6fZok
— Kyle Hooten (@KyleHooten2) May 24, 2020
110) Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer “signed an order mandating that nursing homes and other long-term care facilities accept COVID-19 patients”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/gretchen-whitmers-most-devastating-coronavirus-mistake
111) Minnesota nursing homes have 81% of COVID-19 deaths, still taking positive patients
https://www.valleynewslive.com/content/news/Data-shows-81-of–570708611.html
112) States with the toughest lockdowns forced nursing homes to admit patients who had tested positive for COVID-19. This caused the U.S. death rate to be far, far higher than it otherwise would have been.
New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and California all forced nursing homes to admit patients who had tested positive for COVID-19.
NPR reported:
New York and New Jersey both have ordered nursing homes to admit patients regardless of their COVID-19 status. California had a similar directive.
The Washington Examiner reported:
Whitmer signed an order mandating that nursing homes and other long-term care facilities accept COVID-19 patients
Valley News Live reported:
Many states, including New York, came under fire for a policy requiring nursing homes to admit COVID-19 positive patients…
Minnesota’s Department of Health did so…
The Daily Caller reported:
PA Health Secretary Moved Mother Out Of Personal Care Home After Ordering Nursing Homes To Accept COVID Patients
These are the very same states that had the toughest lockdowns.
If the real purpose of the lockdowns was to protect people from COVID-19, then why did the states with the toughest lockdowns force nursing homes to admit people who had tested positive for COVID-19?
113) Minnesota mayor gives masks to crowding rioters after warning in-person worship would be ‘public health disaster’
114) New England Journal of Medicine: “We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection”
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2006372
115) In Colorado, “a CBS4 Investigation revealed the state health department reclassified three deaths at a Centennial nursing home as COVID-19 deaths, despite the fact attending physicians ruled all three were not related to coronavirus”
116) In Michigan, someone who committed suicide was listed as having died from COVID-19
117) Dr. Deborah Birx: “if someone dies with COVID-19 we are counting that as a COVID-19 death”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blZpgra3XbU
118) According to Elie Mystal, a writer for the Nation, people who protest against the lockdown “aren’t freedom fighters – they’re virus-spreading sociopaths,” while people who protest against the murder of George Floyd have “incredible strength”
Elie Mystal is a writer for The Nation.
According to Mystal, people who protest against the lockdown
“aren’t freedom fighters – they’re virus-spreading sociopaths”
while people who protest against the murder of George Floyd have
“incredible strength”
Make up your mind. Either the virus is too dangerous for people to be protesting in public, or it’s not. You can’t have it be safe for protesters that you agree with, but dangerous for protestors that you disagree with. Viruses don’t work that way. The virus doesn’t know or care why a person is protesting.
119) Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf violated his own lockdown to participate in a Black Lives Matter protest
120) The ACLU supported the lockdown for law abiding business owners, but opposed the lockdown for criminals who looted, vandalized, and burned those very same businesses
https://thefederalist.com/2020/06/06/the-aclus-new-curfew-position-unmasks-their-hypocrisy/
121) Knut Wittkowski, former head of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design at The Rockefeller University’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science, said the lockdown “most likely made the situation worse”
https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/05/15/we-could-open-up-again-and-forget-the-whole-thing/
122) A Jewish children’s gathering turned into a George Floyd protest so New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio wouldn’t shut it down
This is one of the most absurd examples of the lockdown’s double standards.
A Jewish children’s gathering turned into a George Floyd protest so New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio wouldn’t shut it down.
Here’s a photograph of it. Note the sign on the left that says, “Justice for George Floyd.”
You can see a bigger version of the photograph at this link: https://danfromsquirrelhill.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/jewish-children-justice-for-george-floyd.jpg
The photograph is from this tweet:
https://twitter.com/JakeTurx/status/1268970681351405575
These clever Hasidic kids decided to turn their carnival into a “Justice for George Floyd” rally and now the NYPD cannot break it up.
Tonight’s Justice for George Floyd Shabbat Services are sure to be interesting as well.
H/t @kippahunited pic.twitter.com/pN1JvII0wx
— Dr. Jake K. Turx, NhD (not an actual doctor) (@JakeTurx) June 5, 2020
Here’s an article about it:
123) Over 1,000 ‘health experts’ sign letter of support for Black Lives Matter mob but conservative protesters are racist and must stay at home due to COVID-19
124) New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that he still supported quarantine measures that limited attendance at houses of worship to 10, even as he supported mass protests in the city against police brutality
https://forward.com/fast-forward/447916/de-blasio-coronavirus-jewish-protest/
125) Michigan Supreme Court unanimously sides with 77-year-old barber over governor Gretchen Whitmer
126) Black pro-lifers arrested for praying at Planned Parenthood while hundreds of rioters go free
127) PA Health Secretary twists herself into a pretzel trying to justify limitless BLM protests while standing by COVID-19 restrictions for small businesses
https://twitter.com/David_LaTorre/status/1268280669014237186
This is why you have reporters at press conferences. Levine is asked about @GovernorTomWolf calling officials coward and then marching today in Harrisburg. Wait for the end. pic.twitter.com/6VkaYyMpwr
— Real_Dave_La_Torre 🍿 (@David_LaTorre) June 3, 2020
128) New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio broke up a Jewish funeral, but allowed a funeral for George Floyd
129) Michigan governor Gretchen ‘Lockdown’ Whitmer leads group of marchers chanting, ‘Hands up, don’t shoot’
130) Claire McCaskill was the State Auditor of Missouri, as well as a U.S. Senator from Missouri. She criticized people who went swimming, but defended Black Lives Matter protestors.
https://twitter.com/clairecmc/status/1264571117546725377
Embarrassing for my state. Hope none of them have parents fighting cancer, grandparents with diabetes, aunts and uncles with serious heart conditions. Because clearly they could care less. https://t.co/2e8XXur3iN
— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) May 24, 2020
https://twitter.com/clairecmc/status/1268367586699415553
Oh come on. Missourians please. Why? Why? Other than to waste their time and your money groveling at the ankles of Donald Trump. Disgusting. Get mad. https://t.co/7aLIEBRzW2
— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) June 4, 2020
131) U.S. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi said she supported extending the lockdown for three more months. Less than one month later, she participated in a Black Lives Matter protest.
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1268262028205936641
Nancy Pelosi walking through the protests without needing the police to gas protesters pic.twitter.com/wKwb3RwEDf
— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) June 3, 2020
https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/may/13/nancy-pelosi-of-course-supports-los-angeles-lockdo/
132) Let this sink In: Churches are shuttered over COVID-19 fears, but violent anarchists are allowed to congregate with impunity
133) New York governor Andrew Cuomo criticized anti-lockdown protestors, but defended Black Lives Matter protestors who violated the lockdown
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/george-floyd-unrest-big-city-mayors-coronavirus-lockdowns
134) Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti threatened to turn off the water and electricity to businesses that violated the lockdown, but he defended Black Lives Matter protestors who violated the lockdown
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/george-floyd-unrest-big-city-mayors-coronavirus-lockdowns
135) Denmark, Finland say they saw no increase in coronavirus after schools re-opened
136) Kanchan Soni, who lived in India, died because the lockdown prevented her from getting dialysis
137) Chewing gum, wire-cutters, and superglue: the alarming rise of DIY Dentistry under coronavirus
138) A scientific paper on the lockdown states, “In high burden settings, HIV, TB and malaria related deaths over 5 years may be increased by up to 10%, 20% and 36%, respectively”
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/mrc-gida/2020-05-01-COVID19-Report-19.pdf
139) Polio and measles could surge after disruption of vaccine programs. A new study of 129 countries found that the interruption of inoculation efforts could put 80 million babies at risk of getting deadly, preventable diseases.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/health/coronavirus-polio-measles-immunizations.html
140) Why most Covid-19 deaths won’t be from the virus
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200528-why-most-covid-19-deaths-wont-be-from-the-virus
141) Two hairstylists who had coronavirus saw 140 clients. No new infections have been linked to the salon, officials say.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/11/us/missouri-hairstylists-coronavirus-clients-trnd/index.html
142) Democrats cheering ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests now say Trump rallies pose coronavirus risk
143) New Jersey governor Phil Murphy violated his own lockdown to participate in two Black Lives Matter protests
https://whyy.org/articles/gop-assemblyman-n-j-gov-murphy-broke-own-order-marching-in-protests/
144) Over half of Minnesota coronavirus death certificates list something else as primary cause of death
145) In the real world, George Floyd was killed by a police officer. But in the fantasy world of bogus COVID-19 statistics, he died from COVID-19.
In the real world, George Floyd was killed by a police officer.
This CNN article is titled, “George Floyd tested positive for coronavirus, but it had nothing to do with his death, autopsy shows.”
So although Floyd tested positive for COVID-19, it was not the cause of his death.
However, Dr. Deborah Birx had previously stated:
“if someone dies with COVID-19 we are counting that as a COVID-19 death”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blZpgra3XbU
In the real world, George Floyd was killed by a police officer.
But in the fantasy world of bogus COVID-19 statistics, he died from COVID-19.
146) U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders praised Black Lives Matter protestors, but said Trump’s proposed GOP convention was dangerous
On June 5, 2020, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders said the following of Black Lives Matter protestors:
“I’m very proud of the people standing up for justice and taking to the streets. When we study history we look at pivotal moments — the Civil War, the Great Depression, World War II. People will look back on this time as one of those moments.”
https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1268992801963982853
I’m very proud of the people standing up for justice and taking to the streets. When we study history we look at pivotal moments — the Civil War, the Great Depression, World War II. People will look back on this time as one of those moments. pic.twitter.com/WzpH7i3fyD
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 5, 2020
However, on June 11, 2020, Sanders said the following of President Trump’s proposed GOP convention:
“Trump wants 15,000 delegates cheering him at his GOP convention in Florida. No social distancing. His rejection of medical advice endangers not only those there but those they come in contact with. Trump’s a threat to the health and well-being of the country. He must be defeated.”
https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1271137203318595584
Trump wants 15,000 delegates cheering him at his GOP convention in Florida. No social distancing. His rejection of medical advice endangers not only those there but those they come in contact with. Trump’s a threat to the health and well-being of the country. He must be defeated.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 11, 2020
Make up your mind, Senator Sanders. Either the virus is too dangerous for people to be gathering in large groups, or it’s not. You can’t have it be safe for people that you agree with, but dangerous for people that you disagree with. Viruses don’t work that way. The virus doesn’t know or care why people are gathering together in large groups.
147) Feds classifying all coronavirus patient deaths as ‘COVID-19’ deaths, regardless of cause. The federal government is classifying the deaths of patients infected with the coronavirus as COVID-19 deaths, regardless of any underlying health issues that could have contributed to the loss of someone’s life.
https://nypost.com/2020/04/07/feds-classify-all-coronavirus-patient-deaths-as-covid-19-deaths/
148) World Health Organization: “If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with COVID-19”
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/cdc-offer-conflicting-advice-masks-expert-tells-us/story?id=70958380
149) Reopening schools in Denmark did not worsen outbreak, data shows
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-denmark-reopening-idUSKBN2341N7
150) One month later: top Israeli mathematician predicted COVID-19 peaks after 40 days with or without economic lockdowns – and he was right!
151) Baltimore fines church for holding services while thousands protest in the streets
152) Argentina pastor turns church into bar in protest at uneven coronavirus restrictions
153) More than 60 percent of both nursing home deaths and total COVID-19 deaths occurred in just seven blue states with about 20 percent of the U.S. population: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Michigan. The governors in each of these states ignored federal guidelines and pursued some version of the policy of admitting infectious patients to nursing homes as soon as they were clinically stable.
https://townhall.com/columnists/philkerpen/2020/06/24/covid19-the-nursing-home-disease-n2571160
154) MSNBC: Trump Fans ‘Super-Spreaders’ But BLM Protesters Show ‘Extraordinary Courage’
155) Water, power cut off and locks changed at Oxford gym that defied Massachusetts shutdown
156) James Woods: “Democrats were literally arresting Americans for opening their businesses, but now are silent as protesters burn them down. You were fined for worshipping in your church, but now cheered for marching in screaming crowds.”
https://twitter.com/RealJamesWoods/status/1268201526448685056
Democrats were literally arresting Americans for opening their businesses, but now are silent as protesters burn them down. You were fined for worshipping in your church, but now cheered for marching in screaming crowds.
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) June 3, 2020
157) Dr. Kelly Fradin: “I’m a pediatrician and I think we should reopen schools, even with the risk of coronavirus outbreaks”
https://www.insider.com/pediatrician-reopen-schools-even-if-it-leads-coronavirus-outbreaks-2020-6
158) Catholic priests, Orthodox Jews sue Cuomo, de Blasio over reopening plan: ‘Blatant double-standard’
https://www.foxnews.com/us/new-york-cuomo-de-blasio-coronavirus-discrimination-lawsuit
159) Pennsylvania sues to stop car show over crowd size even after Governor Tom Wolf marched in Black Lives Matter protest two weeks earlier
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pennsylvania-shut-down-car-show-coronvirus
160) An Ohio BBQ restaurant named Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf its “employee of the month” after business skyrocketed. Breakwall BBQ sits along Lake Erie near the Pennsylvania-Ohio border in a town called Conneaut. The BBQ joint tells Erie News Now they’ve had hundreds of customers cross the border to eat at their restaurant as Erie County remains in the yellow phase of the state’s reopening process.
161) Citing protests, federal judge strikes down Cuomo and de Blasio lockdown orders for churches
A federal judge on Friday struck down orders issued by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio that limit the size of church services.
The ruling, a preliminary injunction delivered by District Judge Gary Sharpe, notes that by endorsing protests for racial justice while simultaneously discouraging large gatherings in churches, both Cuomo and de Blasio undermined their claim that their lockdown orders were “generally applicable.”
“The State argues, in overly-simplistic fashion, that the challenged laws only incidentally impose a burden on religious exercise, and they are neutral and generally applicable, and therefore, only rational basis need be shown, which is self-evident: preventing the spread of COVID-19,” Sharpe wrote. “The State was silent with respect to the mass race protests.”
Sharpe added that de Blasio’s comments with regard to churches, as well as his attitude toward New York Jewish communities, made it difficult for the mayor to make a “legitimate” claim that he is not biased against people of faith while favoring protests.
“Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio could have just as easily discouraged protests, short of condemning their message, in the name of public health and exercised discretion to suspend enforcement for public safety reasons instead of encouraging what they knew was a flagrant disregard of the outdoor limits and social distancing rules,” Sharpe wrote. “They could have also been silent. But by acting as they did, Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio sent a clear message that mass protests are deserving of preferential treatment.”
De Blasio, in early June, said that allowing protests and allowing religious services were “not the same question.”
The ruling came after Catholic churches and Orthodox synagogues in upstate New York filed a suit earlier this month alleging that Cuomo’s executive orders violated their First Amendment rights.
Following Sharpe’s order, New York officials are no longer allowed to impose limits on indoor, in-person religious gatherings.
162) This video shows Dr. Anthony Fauci removing his mask when he thought he was no longer being filmed
https://twitter.com/CHIZMAGA/status/1278029614070153217
Camera off, mask off. pic.twitter.com/WQYIEeiVK3
— CHIZ 🇺🇸 (@CHIZMAGA) June 30, 2020
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
163) DC mayor tells residents to stay home for 4th of July, promotes Black Lives Matter gatherings
164) De Blasio, Cuomo are making children bear the worst of the lockdowns
Videos circulating on social media recently show New York City Parks employees welding shut a playground in the heart of Hasidic Williamsburg, Brooklyn. We have seen footage of the New York Police Department and NYC Parks Police in Boro Park shepherding Hasidic children out of a park and locking it shut behind them.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands are allowed to protest in Brooklyn, while a maskless Mayor Bill de Blasio poses for photo-ops, ignoring the social-distancing guidelines his administration ruthlessly enforces against Jewish children and families.
The hypocrisy is stunning — and appalling.
Is it too much to ask for consistent leadership in the Big Apple? Is it too much to ask that our mayor enforce policies equally, across the board? Is it too much to ask that the mayor practice what he preaches or even set an example, instead of scurrying after the most popular position of the week, gung-ho about lockdowns two weeks ago — and gung-ho about mass protests today?
And why are our children becoming the victims of this whiplash-inducing virtue-signaling?
If it were only the mayor taking dumb stances, perhaps we could chalk it up to de Blasio being de Blasio. But Gov. Andrew Cuomo isn’t exactly the beacon of leadership that he projected at the outset of this crisis. On Friday, he took the confounding step of banning sleepaway camps in New York state this summer.
https://nypost.com/2020/06/16/de-blasio-cuomo-are-making-children-bear-worst-of-lockdowns/
165) Selective social-distancing rules are one of the great scams in American life. Massive crowds are wonderful and healthful, if they’re woke. Otherwise, they’re life-threatening… Their metric for reopening wasn’t the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines or any other public-health measure but the “wokeness” of the activity in question… Virtue-signaling is now an essential activity… To believe the leaders of Blue America, SARS-CoV-2 is the first virus in human history to have a social conscience – virulent enough in the ordinary course of events to justify the most restrictive social controls, but not such a big deal if it might get in the way of marches for social justice.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/06/coronavirus-selective-social-distancing-rules-scam/
166) Slowing the coronavirus is speeding the spread of other diseases. Many mass immunization efforts worldwide were halted this spring to prevent spread of the virus at crowded inoculation sites. The consequences have been alarming… cargo flights with vaccine supplies were halted… Now, diphtheria is appearing in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Cholera is in South Sudan, Cameroon, Mozambique, Yemen and Bangladesh. A mutated strain of poliovirus has been reported in more than 30 countries. And measles is flaring around the globe, including in Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Nigeria and Uzbekistan.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/14/health/coronavirus-vaccines-measles.html
167) Norway health chief: lockdown was not needed to tame Covid
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/norway-health-chief-lockdown-was-not-needed-to-tame-covid
168) NBC News “medical expert” Dr. Joseph Fair appeared on air nearly a dozen times to document his “struggle” with COVID-19. But later, he admitted that he never actually had COVID-19. From the very start, every single one of his COVID-19 tests was negative.
This is just too funny.
This is one of the biggest and best examples of the media bias that is being used to exaggerate the problem of COVID-19.
NBC News “medical expert” Dr. Joseph Fair appeared on air nearly a dozen times to document his “struggle” with COVID-19.
But later, he admitted that he never actually had COVID-19.
From the very start, every single one of his COVID-19 tests was negative.
Here’s a picture of Dr. Fair from one of his reports. I got this image from the following link, which also has a great article about how NBC pulled off their huge con:
Here are some of the videos of NBC’s con that aired on the network:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWRVXxTdgYs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjZbSHv6lws
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of4RlbgUbEc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyizJh3–5o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_tupmKGy0c
169) California’s Gavin Newsom orders wineries shut, keeps his own open
170) Antibody tests point to lower death rate for the coronavirus than first thought
Mounting evidence suggests the coronavirus is more common and less deadly than it first appeared.
The evidence comes from tests that detect antibodies to the coronavirus in a person’s blood rather than the virus itself.
The tests are finding large numbers of people in the U.S. who were infected but never became seriously ill. And when these mild infections are included in coronavirus statistics, the virus appears less dangerous.
“The current best estimates for the infection fatality risk are between 0.5% and 1%,” says Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
That’s in contrast with death rates of 5% or more based on calculations that included only people who got sick enough to be diagnosed with tests that detect the presence of virus in a person’s body.
171) Churches, which account for 0.02% of COVID-19 cases, are a “major source” of infection, the New York Times says. The paper’s claim reflects the same arbitrary distinction between religious and secular activities that churches are challenging in court.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/us/coronavirus-churches-outbreaks.html
172) NYC Black Lives Matter marches can continue despite large-event ban, de Blasio says
https://nypost.com/2020/07/09/nyc-allows-black-lives-matter-marches-despite-ban-on-large-events/
173) Coronavirus pandemic could push 122 million to brink of starvation: Oxfam
https://globalnews.ca/news/7155931/coronavirus-starvation-oxfam/
174) Dr. Dan Wohlgelernter said, “What we needed to do was not lock down all of society. Not shut down schools. Not shut down all businesses. You needed to protect the elderly. Particularly the elderly in the nursing homes. It’s a small segment of our population. We could have allowed the rest of the population to continue with their lives, take adequate precautions but not be completely shut down. The cost of the shut down in terms of the physical, emotional, and psychological health of people is enormous. We’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg of people who have been shut-in. Who’ve lost their businesses. Who are facing depression. Who are facing issues of mental health because of the consequences. This should never happen again. If we ever face this situation again we need to learn the lessons from the mistakes and policies that were implemented.”
175) Are protests dangerous? What experts say may depend on who’s protesting what. Public health experts decried the anti-lockdown protests as dangerous gatherings in a pandemic. Health experts seem less comfortable doing so now that the marches are against racism.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/06/us/Epidemiologists-coronavirus-protests-quarantine.html/
176) A Florida health official admitted that a man in his 20s who died in a motorcycle accident was listed as a coronavirus death, raising questions about the validity of the state’s COVID-19 fatality count
177) American Academy of Pediatrics: Get students back to school in the fall
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is pushing government officials and school administrators to allow students to return to class in the fall despite the coronavirus.
The AAP said in a Monday statement that the cost to children of keeping them separated from school and their classmates may be worse than the disease and lead to abuse, drug use, and even suicide.
178) Sky News’ Rowland Manthorpe: “… if I tested positive for COVID-19 today and then I got hit by a bus tomorrow, then COVID-19 would be listed as my cause of death”
179) “… you could have been tested positive in February, recovered, then hit by a bus in July and you’d be recorded as a covid death”
180) Columnist calls out Chris Cuomo’s wife for lack of social distancing, promoting shoes, magazine during Instagram yoga session
New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz blasted Cristina Cuomo, the wife of CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, for doing yoga inside a high-end shoe store, arguing that people like the Cuomos enjoyed a separate set of rules during the coronavirus pandemic.
Markowicz pointed to an Instagram post in which Cristina Cuomo and her yoga instructor engaged in an hour-long session at a brand-new Jimmy Choo store. A gym owner had purportedly commented on the video and complained that neither Cristina Cuomo, nor her instructor, were social distancing or wearing masks.
“Cristina Cuomo is selling her products while working out indoors at the Hamptons @jimmychoo store with her trainer; No social distancing, no masks. Why is it the Cuomo family can make a living but I can’t open my gym to support my team and family?” the post read.
https://twitter.com/karol/status/1284306473636573184
Post from a gym owner. Every fawning media feature lets this family get away with this behavior. Rules don’t apply. pic.twitter.com/4yQJuBlcAj
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) July 18, 2020
https://www.foxnews.com/media/cristina-cuomo-yoga-coronavirus-jimmy-choo-instagram
181) People are more likely to contract COVID-19 at home, study finds
https://www.yahoo.com/news/people-more-likely-contract-covid-122611396.html
182) CDC study: Coronavirus infection numbers may be up to 24 times higher than reported
183) No known case of teacher catching coronavirus from pupils, says scientist. There has been no recorded case of a teacher catching the coronavirus from a pupil anywhere in the world, according to one of the government’s leading scientific advisers. Mark Woolhouse, a leading epidemiologist and member of the government’s Sage committee, told The Times that it may have been a mistake to close schools in March given the limited role children play in spreading the virus.
184) Health professionals advocate for school reopening despite coronavirus pandemic
https://dailycaller.com/2020/07/16/health-professionals-school-reopening-pandemic/
185) Dr. Vladimir Zelenko’s claimed treatment for COVID-19 with a triple combination of hydroxychloroquine, zinc, and azithromycin: Have conservatives fallen for a bogus conspiracy theory? Or, have liberals ignored a real world, successful treatment for COVID-19?
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
July 7, 2020
At least since March, and perhaps even earlier, Dr. Vladimir Zelenko from New York has been claiming to have successfully treated COVID-19 patients with a triple combination of hydroxychloroquine, zinc, and azithromycin.
In March, Snopes rated Dr.Zelenko’s claim as “unproven.”
On May 8, medrxiv.org reported:
Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin plus zinc vs hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin alone: outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients
In univariate analyses, zinc sulfate increased the frequency of patients being discharged home, and decreased the need for ventilation, admission to the ICU, and mortality or transfer to hospice for patients who were never admitted to the ICU.
On May 12, Spectrum News channel 1 from New York reported:
Researchers at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine found patients given the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine along with zinc sulphate and the antibiotic azithromycin were 44 percent less likely to die from the coronavirus.
The study looked at the records of 932 COVID-19 patients treated at local hospitals with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin.
More than 400 of them were also given 100 milligrams of zinc daily.
Researchers said the patients given zinc were one and a half times more likely to recover, decreasing their need for intensive care.
And I think this next one is the most important one so far.
On July 3, preprints.org reported:
COVID-19 Outpatients – Early Risk-Stratified Treatment with Zinc Plus Low Dose Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin: A Retrospective Case Series Study
Of 335 positively PCR-tested COVID-19 patients, 127 were treated with the triple therapy. 104 of 127 met the defined risk stratification criteria and were included in the analysis. In addition, 37 treated and eligible patients who were confirmed by IgG tests were included in the treatment group (total N=141). 208 of the 335 patients did not meet the risk stratification criteria and were not treated. After 4 days (median, IQR 3-6, available for N=66/141) of onset of symptoms, 141 patients (median age 58 years, IQR 40-60; 73% male) got a prescription for the triple therapy for 5 days. Independent public reference data from 377 confirmed COVID-19 patients of the same community were used as untreated control. 4 of 141 treated patients (2.8%) were hospitalized, which was significantly less (p<0.001) compared with 58 of 377 untreated patients (15.4%) (odds ratio 0.16, 95% CI 0.06-0.5). Therefore, the odds of hospitalization of treated patients were 84% less than in the untreated group. One patient (0.7%) died in the treatment group versus 13 patients (3.5%) in the untreated group (odds ratio 0.2, 95% CI 0.03-1.5; p=0.16). There were no cardiac side effects. Conclusions: Risk stratification-based treatment of COVID-19 outpatients as early as possible after symptom onset with the used triple therapy, including the combination of zinc with low dose hydroxychloroquine, was associated with significantly less hospitalizations and 5 times less all-cause deaths.
That one is the best news so far.
If this is really true, then imagine how many lives could have been saved if more people had paid attention to Dr. Zelenko back in March.
And imagine how much of the lockdown, unemployment, educational disruptions, and other stresses could have been avoided.
I have also noticed that, for some weird reason, there is a huge political divide over this. Back in March and April, every single source that I found that supported Dr. Zelenko was right wing.
So, either conservatives have fallen for a bogus conspiracy theory, or, liberals have ignored a real world, successful treatment for COVID-19.
So which is is?
Have conservatives fallen for a bogus conspiracy theory?
Or, have liberals ignored a real world, successful treatment for COVID-19?
186) D.C. mask mandate exempts lawmakers and government employees
187) Coronavirus lockdown ‘made no difference to number of deaths’, study claims
July 23, 2020
Countries across the world ordered its citizens to stay home and shut up shop in a bid to stop the virulent coronavirus spreading.
But now a study has sensationally claimed the drastic measures did not help reduce the global death toll which is currently more than 625,000.
Experts from the University of Toronto and the University of Texas compared mortality rates and cases in 50 different countries worst hit by the pandemic up until May 1.
They found while imposing lockdown did stop hospitals from being overwhelmed, this did not necessarily prevent high death tolls.
Instead, the researchers concluded, the number of Covid-19 related deaths depended on the health and age of each nation before the pandemic.
https://www.the-sun.com/news/1190721/coronavirus-lockdown-no-difference/
188) California’s ban on ‘in-home bible studies’ sparks lawsuit by Church
189) Stop stealing our children’s youth in the name of their grandparents. Every person I know in his 70s says kids should go back to school. Behind ensuring Americans have food, ensuring our children are well educated is a very close second in societal priorities.
By Steve Welch
July 17, 2020
For those who don’t get the outrage, let me try to put it in simple terms.
Yes, COVID-19 is dangerous, especially to our elderly population and those who are high-risk. Yes, there will be some young, healthy people who die from COVID, as is true with the 38,000 people who die from car accidents each year, or the 2,000 children who died last year from cancer.
As of June 17, 26 American children under the age of 15 have died from COVID. That is not a misprint: 26 children under the age of 15. By comparison, in the first six months of this year, an estimated 122 children under the age of 15 died from the flu, 536 children died in car accidents, and another 349 died in pool drownings. I don’t hear anyone saying we should stop putting kids in cars or letting them swim in pools.
We are stealing our children’s youth and ultimately will be stealing their adulthood, because they will lack the education and social skills to succeed, and we are saddling them with a greater and greater amount of debt as we destroy our economy. Disrupting schooling also forces parents to try to homeschool their children and work their job at the same time.
The effects will be more pronounced in poor communities that lack the technical infrastructure to allow children to access and be successful in distance learning. For the social justice warriors who have understandably been working for equal opportunity in society, this is the sword to die on.
Every person I know in his 70s—every single one—says kids should go back to school. I cannot imagine a single grandparent in this country who would not sacrifice isolating himself for the next six months so his grandchildren can have the joy of playing tag with their friends on the playground or dissecting a frog with their lab partners.
Yes, teachers are at greater risk than students. Doctors and nurses, many of whom are also high risk, continue to go to work every day treating actual COVID patients because that is their job. Individuals working in meat plants are keeping America fed, often under dangerous working circumstances.
Workers put themselves at risk by stocking the shelves at the supermarkets to ensure Americans survive. I cannot imagine teachers not willing to make the same sacrifices. Behind ensuring Americans have food, ensuring our children are well educated is a very close second in top priorities as a society.
You are an American, and you have the following choice every single day: if you are not comfortable with the progression of COVID, you should isolate yourself. Everyone else, put on your mask and practice good social distancing, but it is time to get back to work and life.
Teachers who are high risk can use Zoom to connect with students who will be in the school, and where possible with a young teaching assistant. Students who are high risk should attend schools that have been doing distance learning for a decade. I assure you, they are better at it than what I saw in public schools in the spring.
States should add resources to these online schools or potentially create a state-run online school. But it is time to stop stealing our children’s youth in the name of their grandparents.
Often in life, we need to choose the least bad choice. The absolute worst choice we can make as a society is to cheat our children of their youth and not properly educate them. This is not only selfish, but will damage our country for decades to come. Taiwan, Norway, and Sweden recognized this early and kept their schools open in the spring, and countries like Germany and Japan have already reopened their schools.
We are cheating our children of life by not allowing them to be kids. Besides school, we are cancelling their sports and clubs and theater classes. I am confident America’s senior and at-risk population—who should be isolated anyway!—are willing to stay isolated a little longer to ensure our kids have a childhood and are prepared for the future.
190) Citing educational risks, scientific panel urges that schools reopen
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/health/coronavirus-schools-reopening.html
191) Liberty University announced that it has sued The New York Times for defamation, accusing the newspaper of being factually incorrect in reporting regarding students on campus testing positive for COVID-19 in late March during the early stages of the pandemic.
192) Stanford doctor Scott Atlas says the science shows kids should go back to school
193) Philly mayor’s ban on large events ‘does not apply’ to protests or ‘demonstrations’
194) German study finds no evidence coronavirus spreads in schools
195) All this time, Nancy Pelosi has been illegally going to a hair salon. Also, Pelosi falsely said she had been “set up” by the salon owner. But in reality, it was Pelosi herself who had set up the appointments. And security video shows that Pelosi did not wear a mask.
https://twitter.com/jasonrantz/status/1301314393376845824
San Francisco salon owner Erica Kious blasts Democrat Nancy Pelosi after Pelosi broke coronavirus lockdown rules, got caught, and now is blaming the salon and demand that they apologize to her. pic.twitter.com/XlTbFWwdlM
— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) September 3, 2020
https://twitter.com/TVNewsHQ/status/1301314094402863105
Tucker Carlson on Pelosi saying she was ‘set up’ by hair salon: “Yet another self-centered rich lady blaming the help for her mistakes.” pic.twitter.com/Gy4Reji81M
— TV News HQ (@TVNewsHQ) September 3, 2020
196) After Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney banned indoor dining, he traveled to another city to dine indoors
https://twitter.com/6abc/status/1300261378679283712
Photo of Philadelphia mayor dining indoors in Maryland sparks criticismhttps://t.co/tqr08Kd0cU
— Action News on 6abc (@6abc) August 31, 2020
197) As of September 2020, Sweden, which never had a lockdown, or a mask mandate, had a lower total, cumulative per capita COVID-19 death rate than the U.S.
These are the total, cumulative death rates per million population for COVID-19 for the U.S. and Sweden, as of September 7, 2020:
Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20200907000001/https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
U.S. 583
Sweden 577
Sweden never had a lockdown.
And Sweden never required people to wear masks.
In fact, Sweden never even recommended that people wear masks.
198) Federal judge rules Gov. Wolf’s shutdown orders were unconstitutional
Federal judge rules Gov. Wolf’s shutdown orders were unconstitutional
By Paula Reed Ward
September 14, 2020
A federal judge in Pittsburgh on Monday ruled that orders issued by Gov. Tom Wolf restricting the size of gatherings and closing nonessential businesses to protect against the spread of covid-19 were unconstitutional.
In a statement, Wolf said his office will seek an immediate stay to halt the order and file an appeal.
U.S. District Judge William S. Stickman IV wrote in his 66-page opinion that, even though the actions taken in the spring by Wolf and Health Secretary Rachel Levine were laudable, they violated the First Amendment right to freedom of assembly, and the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the 14th Amendment.
199) CDC: “For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned. For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death.”
200) “The National Cancer Institute estimates that there could be 10,000 additional breast and colorectal deaths over the next decade as a result of missed screenings and delayed diagnoses”
https://www.wjhg.com/2020/09/08/cancer-screenings-down-nationwide-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
University researchers find ‘no additional decline’ in coronavirus infection rate from lockdowns
University researchers find ‘no additional decline’ in coronavirus infection rate from lockdown
April 7, 2020
Yet try to play down that finding
One of the most valuable lessons I learned in the college classroom was not to shy away from the conclusions to which your evidence leads.
I had written a paper analyzing a state law restricting teen driving, put on the books in the past year. Its sponsors sold it as a way to save lives, yet they put no mechanism in the legislation to actually track its effectiveness (say, officers noting violations of the law when they write citations).
When I asked for evidence that the law had delivered on its promise, they insisted that it did. They just had no way to demonstrate it. And because I felt bad questioning their good intentions, I wrote in the paper that the law probably worked.
My professor praised the analysis – and trashed my conclusion. It didn’t follow from the evidence.
I recalled this when I read an intriguing Twitter thread about a forthcoming research paper on COVID-19 and social distancing by scholars at University College London, University of Pennsylvania and Harvard.
Written by Harvard psychiatry professor Alexander Tsai, it says the research team wanted to “assess the extent to which social distancing has restrained the growth” of the epidemic.
“Social distancing” has a very specific meaning here, covering “executive orders, state of emergency declarations, restrictions on travel, school closures, etc.”
https://twitter.com/drdrtsai/status/1246178771889278976
https://twitter.com/drdrtsai/status/1246178771889278976
They omitted measures that were “non-binding” and those issued by a lower jurisdiction, such as a county, and then mapped the “daily case growth rate” against the “first statewide distancing measures.”
Interestingly, the growth rate was “relatively constant” before implementation of these measures, and after 14 days, the “doubling time” now took five days, up from 3.3 days.
The team got very different results when it looked at the effect of “lockdowns,” by which it means “restrictions on internal movement” issued in 30 states, the median of which was implemented 10 days after the first social distancing measures.
Fourteen tweets into the 20-tweet thread, here’s the bombshell:
https://twitter.com/drdrtsai/status/1246186056342548485
https://twitter.com/drdrtsai/status/1246186056342548485
There was no additional decline after lockdowns were implemented. The whole rationale for lockdowns is to #StopTheSpread better than through social distancing.
Let that sink it, but not for too long, because Tsai is afraid you’ll develop a conclusion based on his evidence.
https://twitter.com/drdrtsai/status/1246186680559730688
https://twitter.com/drdrtsai/status/1246186680559730688
Perish the thought that people might look at this elite research team’s findings and ask their elected leaders to justify life-ruining, economy-destroying, health-worsening lockdowns with actual evidence that they #SlowTheSpread by themselves, not just piggybacking on less draconian measures.
Tsai may worry that this finding will be trumpeted by people with motivations he dislikes, who want to end the ruin that their governments have visited on their lives, pointlessly as it turns out. To be in good standing with the public health establishment is to favor draconian restrictions on daily life, or so we’ve learned.
But he can’t just bury the single most newsworthy finding of the research, so he tries to nullify its importance: “It is very difficult to identify the independent effect of lockdowns.” Don’t make the assumption that “lockdowns don’t work” by looking at research that … found no evidence they worked in this case.
It’s like me trying to conclude that a law with no mechanism to measure its effectiveness was probably effective. I hope other researchers are less worried than Tsai about the conclusions that follow from their evidence.
If statewide lockdowns reduce deaths from COVID-19, then why is New York’s per capita death rate more than 50 times higher than Texas’s?
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
April 8, 2020
You can see a list of U.S. states ranked in order by the number of COVID-19 deaths per 1 million population. Go to this link, and scroll down to the list of states. At the top of the list, click where it says “Deaths /1M pop.” Then click on it a second time: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/
In addition, here is a map that shows which states have a statewide lockdown, and which do not. Source: https://www.indy100.com/article/coronavirus-lockdown-us-cases-map-stay-home-order-9443151
Looking at these two things, we should be able to see whether nor not statewide lockdowns actually helped to save lives.
New York has a statewide lockdown, and has had 319 deaths per 1 million population.
Texas has not had a statewide lockedown, but its death rate has only been 6 per 1 million people.
So even though New York has a statewide lockdown, and Texas does not, New York’s per capita death rate is actually more than 50 times higher than Texas’s.
What is the explanation for this?
Note: Edited to add the following: People are commenting about differences in population density. My response to this is to point out that of the 13 most heavily populated U.S. cities, five of them are in Texas. Source for image: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_United_States_cities_by_population&oldid=949701887
List of United States cities by population
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