In early April the government of Ethiopia reinforced its emergency measures by declaring a state of emergency over covid-19. At the time, it looked like it might be a good thing to do. After all, the human race was at war with a New Plague… that, we were told, could rake through the population, killing millions. But soon after some voices began to question the statistics and the tough measures taken across the world; now almost six months after Covid-19, we have better understanding of the facts:
Most people won’t get the virus.
Most of the people who get it have no symptoms.
Most of the people who display symptoms have mild sickness.
Most of the people with severe symptoms will never be critically ill.
Most of the people who get critically ill will survive.
Studies show, again and again, that the infection fatality ratio is on par with flu. Here is a text from Chris Whitty, the UK Chief Medic:
At an individual level the chances of dying of Coronavirus are low.
Over the whole epidemic, even if there is no vaccine, a high proportion will not get it.
Of those who do, a significant proportion (exact number not yet clear) have no symptoms.
Of the symptomatic cases, the great majority (around 80%) have a mild moderate disease.
A minority have to go to hospital, most need only oxygen,. The great majority of these survive.
A minority of those need ventilation
A minority of every age group sadly die with current treatment, but even of the oldest group most do not.
It’s clear the dangerousness of Covid-19 was overestimated: WHO’s Africa Region highlighted, that its model showed that up to 22% of African population (1 billion) could be infected in one year and as large as 190,000 deaths could occur over 52 weeks. The numbers for Ethiopia showed over 4 million infected, and 2 thousands plus deaths. And yet at no point did the danger posed by the new virus go beyond the normal level.
Here is some recent information from Italy: The median age of death in Italy was over 80. Young people are almost immune. The Italian report revealed that by mid-March, no one under 30 had died from the virus there. And there had been only 17 deaths among people under 50… And all those under 40 who had died from the virus had pre-existing “co-morbidities.” Overall, 99% of the fatalities had a previously existing ailment.
Between the young and the old is about a half a century… and a thousand times difference in mortality rates. And yet, under the various internment or lockdown programs, the two groups were locked up together. But all the evidence that has come out since then has confirmed that this is no indiscriminate killer. Instead, it merely overwhelms those senior folks already weakened with existing health problems. For everybody else, it is just another of life’s risks. And for people under 60, it carries about the same risk as driving to work.
Still drastic measures have been imposed or kept in many countries, including Ethiopia where the government introduced a state of emergency law, school and university closures, stay at home, mandatory masks etc. with the argument that covid19 is terrifying, unique, an existential threat to the human race. The message we’re fed tells people to be afraid. Very afraid, of death, of uncertainty, of the ‘virus’, of other people, of ‘fake news’!
As you may have noticed, there are many that do not want to admit the “reality”. The media, the authorities, the health experts, and even the police have induced war hysteria. Wearing a mask, for example, has become a display of not just civic virtue, but obedience. Dissent was dismissed as “reckless,” anti-social… or treasonous. Adults challenged each other: “Why aren’t you wearing a mask?”
But where is the science?
Is there evidence that a non-mask-wearing society will be worse off than one where masks are obligatory? It doesn’t exist. Some places require face masks; some don’t. Some people wear them; some don’t.
Even the World Health Organization now disputes the need for masks. Here’s its new guideline: If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with COVID-19. In fact read this WHO guideline extract from the June 5 Advice on the use of masks in the context of COVID-19: “At present, there is no direct evidence (from studies on COVID19 and in healthy people in the community) on the effectiveness of universal masking of healthy people in the community to prevent infection with respiratory viruses, including COVID-19.” https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/when-and-how-to-use-masks
Dear Reader,
Is this something that can go on forever and worse still, can we ignore the collateral which could potentially result in more deaths than what Covid-19 is causing?
We understand it’s not asking too much for us to take a handful of reasonable precautions to protect the potential victims of this, mostly the elderly and some young children. But why ignore the economy? Why Marshall law? For all we know governments might put us into lock down, start taking people who they claim have the virus and say they died of the virus. Yes Dear Readers, we have to be careful not to evolve into a form of totalitarianism that would have the trappings of capitalism and democracy to deceive us, a prison without walls and slavery without tears.
No one wants to survive only to face massive unemployment, abject poverty, unnecessary fear, hunger, and early death… Many people would take their chances with Covid-19.