Over the last few months there has been a plethora of research and articles about how bad the epidemic response was and the amount of damage that was caused by that response. And of course the backdrop is that the response was largely futile–did nothing to slow spread or limit mortality. Some of this is being published in media that was wildly supportive of the most restrictive measures during the epidemic and that pilloried any one who opposed those measures. Here is a great example–the New Yorker magazine, which just published an article about “Who’s to Blame for the Catastrophe of School Closures”. (NY Article)
The article is an interview of the author of a book on how school closures came about. His analysis is completely accurate, particularly in regard to how evidence on the lack of harm from CV-19 to children and the damage from school closures was ignored. The despicable role of teachers’ unions is highlighted. The role of the media is also discussed, as the media generally piled on anyone who opposed the dictatorial actions taken by public health and political officials. And of course, since everything is politicized in America, this partly became a whacked left-winger versus conservative debate, and as usual, the conservatives were on the side backed by evidence and research.
I keep saying that what bothers me most isn’t all the damage done by the official response to the epidemic but the fact that nothing has really been learned and I am sure panicked politicians will do the same thing again.
Don’t forget, 2020 was an election year and had it not been, Fauci et.al. would have been fired by DJT!
I have this sick need for the far-left crackpots who kept shrieking, “Follow the science!!”, to have their noses rubbed in this reality until they get down on their knees and beg for our forgiveness. On the other hand, there’s also a large number of far-right crazies who take the covid experience to mean that every future pandemic, real or imagined, should be met with nonchalance or disdain since it’s certainly a left-wing plot orchestrated by George Soros to keep us all under his thumb.
Kevin’s comment that the politicians havent learned anything is best exemplified by a comment from a classmate at my 50th high school reunion.
That classmate became an infectious disease expert at a major southern california hospital. His comment was that without masking, shut downs, vaccination, there would have been 2m deaths in the US of which 500,000 would have been children.
Masking, shutdowns and vaccinations at best reduced deaths by 10% to 15%. ( I will let Kevin comment as to whether he thinks my estimate of possible reduced deaths is a reasonable estimate)