Today the CDC’s COVID-19 fatality rate is but a small fraction of its origins; guesstimate. The earlier number was used to justify the de facto suspension of the U.S. Constitution.
The error
Governments have justified extreme, draconian, undemocratic, and unconstitutional “lockdown” and stay-at-home orders on the grounds the virus was exceptionally fatal. That was a lie. In March, the World Health Organization (WHO) was claiming that the COVID-19 fatality rate was a high 3.4%. It was a claim. It was wrong.
Yet as time went on, it has become increasingly clear such high estimates were essentially meaningless. Researchers had no idea how many people were actually infected with the disease. Tests were largely done on those with symptoms serious enough to end up in emergency rooms or doctors’ offices. The results were skewed for obvious reasons. The professionals in charge failed to recognize what they were looking at. Then they repeatedly failed to adjust.
Failure to react to contradictory data
By late April, many researchers were publishing new studies. The newer studies were showing the number of people with the disease was actually much higher than was previously thought. It became clear the percentage of people with the disease who died from it fell notably and significantly.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is releasing new estimates. They now suggest the real covid-19 fatality rate is around 0.26%. Can you say flu? Not even particularly virulent flu. The report concludes the “symptomatic case fatality ratio” is 0.4%. But that’s just symptomatic cases. In the same report, the CDC also claims that 35% of all cases are asymptomatic. Governor Sununu let my people go. Stop acting the petty tyrant. End this pointless exercise in tyranny.
Look, not all scientists have been wrong on this. Back in March, Stanford scientist John Ioannidis was much, much closer to the CDC’s estimate than the WHO. In a March article for Stat News, Dr. Ioannidis argued that Covid-19 is far less deadly than modelers were assuming.
He gave consideration to the experience of the Diamond Princess cruise ship. It went into quarantine Feb. 4 in Japan. Nine of 700 infected passengers and crew died. Based on the demographics of the ship’s population, Dr. Ioannidis estimated that the U.S. fatality rate could be as low as 0.025% to 0.625% and put the upper bound at 0.05% to 1%… comparable to that of seasonal flu.
Results
Not that this will settle the matter. There are many proponents of destroying human rights, Unfortunately; too many are in positions of authority. These petty tyrants are destroying the rule of law. They are continuing to extend and carry out lockdowns. They rationalize and continue to insist “we didn’t know” what the fatality rate was back in March. Those comments arguably had weight in March.
The lack of evidence supporting the assertion today destroys them. This does not stop proponents of lockdowns. They are holding fast to policies destroying the ability of families to earn a living. They continue to clutch policies creating social conditions that cause child abuse and suicides to spike.
For reasonable people, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Those who were claiming lockdowns are “the only option” had virtually no evidence supporting their position. Such extreme measures as general lockdowns should require an extreme level of high-quality, nearly irrefutable evidence. That evidence should show lockdowns would work. The evidence should demonstrate the necessity of the actions.
The burden of proof and responsibility for action
Clearly, those advocating action bear a burden of proof. They must demonstrate conclusively a disease has an extremely high fatality rate. That must happen before, not after, the imposition of draconian, economy-killing action is undertaken. In this case, the only “data” the pro-lockdown people could offer was speculation. Well, speculation and hyperbolic predictions of bodies piling up in the streets. It is the height of irresponsible governmental action.
But that became politically unimportant, didn’t it? The people wanting lockdowns had the ears of powerful people. Government institutions and the media mobilized to harm the nation and its people; unnecessarily and unjustifiably so. Their actions are rendering actual data, science, or respect for human rights meaningless. All that mattered was getting those lockdowns.
Lock people down. Track their movements. Map their contacts. Get control… Tight control… Lock it in… The lockdown crowd is destroying the lives of millions. They are wrecking businesses. The economy is in shambles. They are destroying families. The misery is showing in the cities burning. All for what? To satisfy the hunches of a tiny handful of politicians and technocrats? Houston we have a problem.
