Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Biden advisor Dr. Michael Osterholm wants a US nationwide lockdown of 4-6 weeks, to achieve the same level of control over Covid-19 as Australia and New Zealand achieved. But this faith in lockdowns ignores a few natural advantages which helped Australia and New Zealand gain control of the virus.
Joe Biden Coronavirus Adviser Urges National Lockdown for ‘4 to 6 Weeks’
KYLE OLSON
11 Nov 2020An adviser to Joe Biden on coronavirus has floated the idea of a nationwide lockdown for “four to six weeks.”
Dr. Michael Osterholm was appointed to Biden’s 12-person Covid advisory board on Monday.
On Wednesday, he appeared on CNBC and attempted to rationalize a national lockdown order.
“We could pay for a package right now to cover all of the wages, lost wages for individual workers, for losses to small companies, to medium-sized companies or city, state, county governments. We could do all of that,” he said.
“If we did that, then we could lock down for four-to-six weeks.”
Osterholm claimed that would help get the virus under control, “like they did in New Zealand and Australia.”
…
Read more: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/11/11/joe-biden-coronavirus-adviser-urges-national-lockdown-for-4-to-6-weeks/
The problem with this idea is it implies the USA’s Covid rate is America’s fault; it ignores a few natural advantages which worked very strongly in Australia and New Zealand’s favour.
The biggest advantage we had is when Covid first struck, it was the middle of our Summer. Covid-19 is a winter disease, it thrives best in cold dry conditions. Even a small increase in heat and humidity severely retards the transmission of Covid.
Australian Summers are extremely hot and, especially in the tropical North, are also very humid.
The second advantage Australia and New Zealand enjoyed is low population density. We got off very lightly in most of Australia. Apart from Victoria, with its relatively high population density and cold climate, and a premier whose apparent mismanagement of the outbreak has left a lot of questions, the risk throughout most of Australia and New Zealand has been low since the start of the pandemic, even before the lockdowns.
The third advantage is our politicians didn’t abuse the lockdowns, at least not to the extent some politicians in the USA apparently did. From what I can see some politicians in the USA shattered social trust by only applying lockdown rules to their political opponents, giving their own supporters free license to breach the rules, while imposing dire sanctions against their political opponents and persecuting religious groups. There was some comparable political misbehaviour in Australia in the early stages of the lockdowns, but it attracted so much negative attention our politicians mostly started behaving themselves, before the idea of a lockdown in Australia was completed discredited.
Would a lockdown imposed right now work in the USA? Possibly – but the economic cost would be horrendous, because infection is widespread, because the timing is bad, and because political misbehaviour has created a lot of hostility towards the idea of a lockdown. Fall to winter is likely the worst possible time to attempt to contain Covid-19 with a lockdown, because this is the time the virus is at its most infectious.
I think the USA’s best chance for immediate relief is something like the Pfizer vaccine, which was miraculously announced just after the Presidential election.
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Here in the UK (England) lockdown, the mass testing in the viral hotspot of Liverpool has shown a coronavirus infection rate of 0.5%. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPG8d3e43Xk
As 0.5% may well be within the error range for the test, the pandemic is over in spite of the continuing lockdown. Either herd immunity has been achieved, or the virus has found its niche at a low level of circulation. This evidence shows that any ongoing restrictions in the UK have nothing to do with protecting health of the population, or protecting the NHS. We need to open the economy, get out to the High Streets, and start living again.
Testing is for people showing NO symptoms. These 0.5% [or is it 0.7%] would have gone to infect others.
The 0.5% is from the linked video, and confirmed by the Liverpool Mayor’s tweet of 11 Nov, but may vary over time as test results are added, still in the order of 0.5% positive rate. The RT-LAMP and RNA RT-LAMP tests have high specificity, are less sensitive than high cycle PCR, but the sensitivity has been evaluated at 80% rising to 96% with high viral load. An infection rate around 0.5% is subject to competing interpretations, but in conjunction with the previous levelling off from symptomatic testing, suggests that herd imminity is close to suppressing any further spread. Under those conditions, just a little more spread (preferably asymptomatic amongst the young) could tip the balance into herd immunity. Lockdowns at this stage are probably inhibiting the last bit of immunity being built up, so are preventing us from achieving herd immunity.
The great reset is what it is all about. Instead of a war to reset everything (since the ponzi scheme of central banks is imploding) they want to destroy everything by means of a hyped up virus. It is a ploy to make us accept their digital currency. If you don’t tow the line, your digital wealth is neutered with the click of a mouse. They will use the hysterical crisis as a ploy to steal our property and silence dissent.
The tactics of scaremongering are the same as for cAGW/ “climate change” – refusal to debate, cherrypicking and manipulating data, exaggeration, denigrating dissent, name calling of opponents, intimidating the media to go along with the scam, teaching children in school that the BS is real, appeal to authority. The list is endless.
The similarities are disturbing. So much for our “leaders”- a REAL leader stands up to the BS and does not force us to swallow the BS like we are dung betles.
High Treason November 12, 2020 at 9:29 pm
… So much for our “leaders”- a REAL leader stands up to the BS and does not force us to swallow the BS like we are dung betles.
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REAL leaders use information from scientists and follow the path recommended to allow future generations to prosper even if it means causing some hardship now.
What scientific evidence do you have that you can share the proves we are not heading towards a climate that will cause future generations problems?
“a REAL leader stands up to the BS and does not force us to swallow the BS like we are dung bettles.”
Gov. Kristi Lynn Noem South Dakota
@ghalfrunt Spend a week or two reading all the articles on this site since it was created then use the material between your ears. CO2 is a good gas, without it we would not be here, we would have become extinct long ago.
Trolling is a blood sport, be careful.
4 years to flatten the curve.