School closure, is it to keep kids safe?
"The irony in such language is that children are safe at school already. The CDC states that of the first 68,998 U.S. deaths from COVID-19, only 12 have been in children under age 14" Scott Atlas & Paul Peterson 1/n thehill.com/opinion/educat…
"only ten of the 16,469 confirmed coronavirus deaths in New York City were among those under the age of 18."
To place things in perspective...
"600 children in the United States died from seasonal influenza in 2017-18, according to CDC estimates" 2/n
“Our data indicate that children are at far greater risk of critical illness from influenza than from COVID-19.”
So why is it we keep schools open during influenza seasons but we have decided to close them for COVID-19? 3/n
"If the COVID-19 hazard sets the new standard for health safety, the country will need to close its schools each year from November until April to guard against influenza." 4/n
How much learning are students getting online anyway?
"only half of students are showing up for online instruction on any given day; 20% of them have never logged on to the designated website." 5/n
What about low-income students? 1) no tablets 2) no WIFI 3) no mentors to guide them
What happened to equity in education? Is it no longer a priority in the age of COVID19?
“elementary students [in urban districts] may have lost 30% of their reading skills.” 6/n
"more than half of America’s children are not receiving needed vaccinations"
"children are being denied opportunities for social and emotional development that come with play, exercise, sports and socialization." Scott Atlas & Paul Peterson 7/n
The long-term harmful effects of school closures:
"the loss in human capital that lasts a lifetime: Closing schools this past spring translates into a 3% or more cut in lifetime earnings for those whose education is being sidelined" 8/n
"risks to adults in schools are much less than those encountered in grocery stores, pharmacies and other essential businesses."
"children seldom if ever transmit the disease to adults, even to their parents" 9/n
Generally speaking, teachers are not part of the vulnerable group.
"teaching is a young person’s occupation. Teachers’ median age is 41; more than 80% are under the age of 55"
10/n
"social distancing and face coverings for children are completely unnecessary" Scott Atlas & Paul Peterson 11/n
"Never have schools subjected children to such an unhealthy, uncomfortable and anti-educational environment, so science cannot precisely define the total harm it will cause." Scott Atlas & Paul Peterson 12/n
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"closing international borders will not stop new mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus circulating in the UK population. It is a futile endeavour with no scientific basis." 1/n @hartgroup_org
“History will thus record lockdowns as the product of pseudoscientific ideology, manifestations of an unprecedented mass hysteria ... & reminders that we must always defend vital freedoms against panicking and power-drunk politicians”@NickHudsonCT
1 citizen.co.za/news/opinion/o…
“In taking up the lockdown baton from China, the world was conducting a dangerous experiment. That experiment involved tearing up the public health policy guidelines for respiratory virus epidemics” @NickHudsonCT
2/n
“The lie that lockdowns worked spread as a social contagion, persisting among petrified citizens and ideological opinion-makers who continued to use overblown models as their alternative “what if” scenarios.” @NickHudsonCT 3/n
"We should be grateful for small mercy" - Dr John Lee
In order to determine what we need to do, we should: 1) how serious is the C19 virus 2) effectiveness of measures (lockdowns + masks) 3) costs of measures 1/n
"The threat of the virus and the effectiveness of the measures have been systematically exaggerated while the costs of the measures have been systematically underestimated." Dr John Lee
2/n
"some scientists seem to have made a career out of being doommongerers" Dr John Lee
3/n
The Vatican getting its hands dirty now!!
This is blatant guilt-tripping.
“It is an ethical choice because you are gambling with your health, with your life, but you are also gambling with the lives of others,”- Pope Francis 1/n reuters.com/article/us-hea…
But how are you gambling with the lives of others? Doesn't the vaccine protect the people who are taking them?
How about humans stay out of this and let God punish those who refuse to take the vaccine? Isn't that what heaven and hell are for? 2/n
Fearmongering had its birth in religions.
Religious leaders use fear and guilt to control people. The whole pavlovian approach of reward and punishment has its roots in religion. This bit is human-made to serve human interests. 3/n
Definitions matter. @WHO defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
Is "COMPLETE" health a realistic expectation?
Does it lead to irrealistic strategies like #ZeroCovid?
1/n
Aiming for 'COMPLETE' has its own ills.
1)"medicalisation of society"=>MASS testing
"New screening technologies detect abnormalities at levels that might never cause illness and pharmaceutical companies produce drugs for “conditions” not previously defined as health problems."3/n
"The global health community that, in the past, prioritised HIV/Aids, TB and the big child killer, malaria, appears to consider avoidable deaths from such illnesses an acceptable cost in their attempt to reduce transmission of SARS-COV-2." @bell00david 1/n newsafrica.net/sections/inter…
"In a new form of post-colonial oppression, the rich world, via video meetings on Zoom, have introduced policies that are leading to impoverishment in Africa." @bell00david
2/n
"And given the very low impact of Covid-19 on younger people, and thus on the vast majority of Africans, one has to question why a vaccine for Covid-19 should take precedent over investment in mosquito nets for malaria, for instance." @bell00david 3/n