Thread by @RickFandango

Why #scientists fear the “toxic” #Covid19 debate - The hyper-polarisation of discussions about how to handle the #coronavirus pandemic risks stifling nuance and undermining scientific inquiry.

newstatesman.com/science-tech/c…

#academics are afraid to speak out for fear of being vilified. The replacement of nuanced debate with hyper-polarisation and insult-trading has prompted many to despair over erosion of healthy #scientific discussion and potential breakdown of public trust

newstatesman.com/science-tech/c…

experiences intensify the further one drifts from the accepted orthodoxy on #Covid19. At present, this orthodoxy leans towards advocating zero Covid (total eradication), the aim of suppressing case numbers by partial or full #lockdowns until #vaccine

newstatesman.com/science-tech/c…

'the #BylineTimes has published a number of articles attempting to link academics aligned with Gupta’s position on coronavirus with #rightwing groups'

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'#FrancoisBalloux, director of the UCL Genetics Institute, who has aimed to stay fact-driven and critical of the prevailing #Covid19 orthodoxies throughout the pandemic, describes the #BylineTimes piece as #McCarthyite'

newstatesman.com/science-tech/c…

'Baral describes a “tremendous amount of #fear in the scientific community” about positing ideas that challenge the positions espoused by Western governments, the UK government advisory panel #Sage and health bodies such as the #WHO'

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'#ThomasBenfield, a clinical researcher at the #UniversityOfCopenhagen and one of the lead investigators on the #mask study, has refused to share the results, but has said that it will be published “as soon as a journal is brave enough".'

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Data analysed found that since the beginning of the #pandemic, 31,165 more people in Britain have died in their homes than forecast. Only 9 per cent of these #excess deaths had #Covid19'

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'evidence for #lockdowns is patchy too. The major European countries with the highest mortality rate per 100,000 people so far are #Belgium, #Spain, the #UK, and #Italy. All instituted harsh lockdowns, yet still recorded the highest death rates in Europe'

newstatesman.com/science-tech/c…

#Sweden, which had no mandatory lockdown, came in 5th for population fatality rate among major European countries. But other countries such as #Japan and #Belarus that didn’t implement mandatory lockdowns have recorded significantly lower #fatality rates

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A study published in #theLancet’s EClinical Medicine found no relationship between full #lockdowns and lower #Covid19 mortality. Put simply, the argument that lockdowns are an effective protective measure is NOT based on irrefutable empiricism either'

newstatesman.com/science-tech/c…

'the more certain someone is about #Covid19 and the interventions to address it, the less you should trust them. Penned by #GeorgeDaveySmith, professor in clinical #epidemiology at the #UniversityOfBristol'

newstatesman.com/science-tech/c…

'the letter takes aim at the “many rational people with #scientific credentials making assertive public pronouncements on #Covid19 who seem to suggest there can be no legitimate grounds for disagreeing with them”.'

newstatesman.com/science-tech/c…

A recent #OxfordUniversity study found that the average age of #coronavirus fatalities is 82'

newstatesman.com/science-tech/c…

'scientists I spoke to were concerned about the effect #Covid19 might have on the scientific discipline as a whole, as well as public #trust in #science'

newstatesman.com/science-tech/c…

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