A fiasco in the making? As the coronavirus pandemic takes hold, we are making decisions without reliable data
ByJOHN P.A. IOANNIDIS
MARCH 17, 2020
A nurse holds swabs and a test tube to test people for Covid-19 at a drive-through station set up in the parking lot of the Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich.PAUL SANCYA/AP
The current coronavirus disease, Covid-19, has been called a once-in-a-century pandemic. But it may also be a once-in-a-century evidence fiasco.At a time when everyone needs better information, from disease modelers and governments to people quarantined or just social distancing, we lack reliable evidence on how many people have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 or who continue to become infected. (Article in link)__________________
**Comment**
Key quotes:
The data collected so far on how many people are infected and how the epidemic is evolving are utterly unreliable.
Reported case fatality rates, like the official 3.4% rate from the World Health Organization, cause horror — and are meaningless.
A population-wide case fatality rate of 0.05% is lower than seasonal influenza. If that is the true rate, locking down the world with potentially tremendous social and financial consequences may be totally irrational. It’s like an elephant being attacked by a house cat.
A positive test for coronavirus does not mean necessarily that this virus is always primarily responsible for a patient’s demise.
Enforcement. This Order is enforceable by any local law enforcementofficial, including county sheriffs. Violation or obstruction of this Order is punishable by up to 30 days imprisonment, or up to $250 fine, or both. Wis. Stat. § 252.25.
Duration. This Order shall become effective at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 and will remain in effect until 8:00 a.m. on Friday, April 24, 2020, or until a superseding order is issued.
The chief fearmonger of the Trump Administration is without a doubt Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. Fauci is all over the media, serving up outright falsehoods to stir up even more panic.He testified to Congress that the death rate for the coronavirus is ten times that of the seasonal flu, a claim without any scientific basis.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has asked Congress for a slew of new emergency powers, according to documents obtained and reviewed by Politico.
The requests come as the federal government tries to combat the coronavirus pandemic which has sickened over 24,000 people nationwide in the U.S. and claimed more than 280 lives, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (See link for article)
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**Comment**
This is what we should be concerned about. This legislation would allow individuals to be held permanentlywithout trial during emergencies.
It would also waive the statute of limitations for criminal investigations as well as civil trials during an emergency and could last up to “one year following the end of the national emergency.”
Dr Ron Paul suggests the coronavirus as a government-promoted hoax. His warning warrants wide consideration, not only because of Paul’s political insight, but also because he is qualified to speak on this as a medical doctor. He writes as follows:
Governments love crises because when the people are fearful they are more willing to give up freedoms for promises that the government will take care of them. After 9/11, for example, Americans accepted the near-total destruction of their civil liberties in the PATRIOT Act’s hollow promises of security.
It is ironic to see the same Democrats who tried to impeach President Trump last month for abuse of power demanding that the Administration grab more power and authority in the name of fighting a virus that thus far has killed less than 100 Americans.
Declaring a pandemic emergency on Friday, President Trump now claims the power to quarantine individuals suspected of being infected by the virus and, as Politico writes, “stop and seize any plane, train or automobile to stymie the spread of contagious disease.” He can even call out the military to cordon off a US city or state.
State and local authoritarians love panic as well. The mayor of Champaign, Illinois, signed an executive order declaring the power to ban the sale of guns and alcohol and cut off gas, water, or electricity to any citizen. The governor of Ohio just essentially closed his entire state.
The chief fearmonger of the Trump Administration is without a doubt Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. Fauci is all over the media, serving up outright falsehoods to stir up even more panic.He testified to Congress that the death rate for the coronavirus is ten times that of the seasonal flu, a claim without any scientific basis.
On Face the Nation, Fauci did his best to further damage an already tanking economy by stating, “Right now, personally, myself, I wouldn’t go to a restaurant.” He has pushed for closing the entire country down for 14 days.
Over what? A virus that has thus far killed just over 5,000 worldwide and less than 100 in the United States?
By contrast, tuberculosis, an old disease not much discussed these days, killed nearly 1.6 million people in 2017. Where’s the panic over this?
If anything, what people like Fauci and the other fearmongers are demanding will likely make the disease worse. The martial law they dream about will leave people hunkered down inside their homes instead of going outdoors or to the beach where the sunshine and fresh air would help boost immunity. The panic produced by these fearmongers is likely helping spread the disease, as massive crowds rush into Walmart and Costco for that last roll of toilet paper.
The madness over the coronavirus is not limited to politicians and the medical community. The head of the neoconservative Atlantic Council wrote an editorial this week urging NATO to pass an Article 5 declaration of war against the COVID-19 virus! Are they going to send in tanks and drones to wipe out these microscopic enemies?
People should ask themselves whether this coronavirus “pandemic” could be a big hoax, with the actual danger of the disease massively exaggerated by those who seek to profit – financially or politically – from the ensuing panic.
That is not to say the disease is harmless. Without question people will die from coronavirus. Those in vulnerable categories should take precautions to limit their risk of exposure. But we have seen this movie before. Government over-hypes a threat as an excuse to grab more of our freedoms. When the “threat” is over, however, they never give us our freedoms back.
About the author: Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, physician, and retired politician who served as the U.S. Representative for Texas’s 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, and for Texas’s 14th congressional district from 1997 to 2013. On three occasions, he sought the presidency of the United States: as the Libertarian Party nominee in 1988 and as a candidate in the Republican primaries of 2008 and 2012.
Lyme/MSIDS is killing and maiming people all over the world but this same CDC/NIH doesn’t care and has followed the same script for over 40 years despite the growing pandemic. Why would we trust these people with a virus when we can’t trust them with a disease that is rambling forward year by year infecting thousands upon thousands? They continue to give the same faulty tests, the same unscientific mono treatment, and continue to squash any doctor who dares to say otherwise.
Remember, the conflicts of interest within this group of authorities is a long rap-sheet: ConflictReport
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