When the coronavirus broke out I felt, probably like many people, that I was living through a sci-fi movie. News programs with images of deserted streets and injunctions to stay at home. Now I feel I’m in a different sci-fi movie. It’s the one where the aliens have landed and they put something in the water supply so that people are completely unaware of what is staring them in face.
When the coronavirus broke out there was a simple policy that was backed up by a certain type of logic: Keep the rate of infections down so that the virus didn’t get out of hand and overload the hospital system. It was referred to as ‘flattening the curve’. We were shown frightening images of hospitals that were overloaded with coronavirus patients who were on intubators. There were reports of a death rate of 85% (and in some cases 100%). Videos of overworked medical staff talking about some frightening aspects of the disease such as patients gasping for air.
In reality the chance of dying if you are not in the vulnerable section of society (over 65 with other medical problems) are very low. What’s interesting is that all reports mention this. This is no conspiracy theory.
But then the narrative changed. Like something out of George Orwell’s classic ‘1984’, no one now talks about flattening the curve instead they talk about the infection rates, as if any infections are potentially disastrous and must be eliminated. Of course, as no one is exposed to the virus there is no chance of herd immunity and so there is the possibility (one might say a certainty) of a ‘second wave’, and possibly subsequent waves. We are told that we have to keep social distancing because the risk to old people is still there.
Professor Harry Hemingway, said that to keep vulnerable people safe during the pandemic, the infection rate must be kept down.
Let’s look at this logically. We are demanding that everyone in every age group must be isolated at huge psychological and economic cost because of the vulnerable group. But the vulnerable group is isolated as well. So if the vulnerable group is isolated then why should every else be isolated?
The reason is fear. People are so afraid of getting the virus that they willingly do as they are told because the people advising the politicians are ‘experts’ — strangely experts who don’t follow that narrative are denounced and even removed from YouTube and Facebook.
In Australia there is the absurd situation where people are told to lockdown — again — because of a wave of infections. The current situation (as at 10th July 2020) is that there are 54 people in hospital and 13 in hospital. This is not an overwhelming number by any means. But as we have moved into this 1984 doublethink scenario, no one now talks about deaths or hospitalisation, they only talk about a hypothetical risk and the infection rate.
In the island state of Tasmania — where I live — there are zero infections but shops and cafes are still expected to maintain social distancing. How is that even logical?
I wrote at the very start of the so-called ‘pandemic’ that we should let it run its course. All the responses to my article were about how we must flatten the curve. There is no curve now, even if there ever was. It is sensible for the vulnerable to self-isolate but it should be completely voluntary. If you fear that you may be at risk you keep yourself isolated until the wave has passed, typically around 6 months. The alternative that is being forced on people is permanent lockdown of everyone with no real way out of the problem as no one develops immunity.
Of course coronavirus is a disease. People can die of diseases. It’s a fact of life, but to keep the whole population locked up because of this undoubtably costs more in psychological and economic hardship (and probably deaths due to reduced lifespan and suicide) than the disease would.
Update – here are some links to some experts:
- WHO on wearing masks
- Western Australian government advises against wearing masks
- A doctor on the science behind social distancing
By Philip Braham on .