(Note from CL – I saw this a few days ago, but did not post it since we are already have plenty of evidence that coronavirus is one huge government foul up worldwide. However, since Google Has 'Memory-Holed' The Great Barrington Declaration, that must mean it is worth reading!)
Authored by Steve Watson via
Summit News,
Over six thousand scientists
and doctors have signed a petition against coronavirus lockdown measures,
urging that those not in the at risk category should be able to get on with
their lives as normal, and that lockdown rules in both the US and UK are
causing ‘irreparable damage’.
Those who have signed include
professors from the world’s leading universities.
Oxford University
professor Dr Sunetra Gupta was one of the authors of the open letter that was
sent with the petition, along with Harvard University’s Dr Martin Kulldorff and
Stanford’s Dr Jay Bhattacharya.
It declares that social
distancing and mask mandates are causing ‘damaging physical and mental health
impacts.’
The petition, dubbed the Great
Barrington Declaration after the town in Massachusetts where it was written, has been
signed by close to 73,000 members of the public at time of writing, as well as
over 4,700 medical and public health scientists and around 3,200 medical
practitioners.
“Those who are not vulnerable
should immediately be allowed to resume life as normal,” it notes, adding
“Keeping these [lockdown] measures in place until a vaccine is available will
cause irreparable damage, with the underprivileged disproportionately harmed.”
“Current lockdown policies are
producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health,” the declaration also
declares.
It continues, “The results
(to name a few) include lower childhood vaccination rates, worsening
cardiovascular [heart] disease outcomes, fewer cancer screenings and
deteriorating mental health – leading to greater excess mortality in years to
come, with the working class and younger members of society carrying the
heaviest burden.”
“Keeping students out of school
is a grave injustice,” the declaration adds.
“Those who are not
vulnerable should immediately be allowed to resume life as normal, it
concludes, explaining that “Simple hygiene measures, such as hand washing and
staying home when sick should be practiced by everyone to reduce the herd
immunity threshold.”
“Schools
and universities should be open for in-person teaching. Extracurricular
activities, such as sports, should be resumed. Young low-risk adults should
work normally, rather than from home,” it emphasises.
Finally, the declaration
demands that normal life should resume, stating that “Restaurants and other
businesses should open. Arts, music, sport and other cultural activities should
resume. People who are more at risk may participate if they wish, while society
as a whole enjoys the protection conferred upon the vulnerable by those who
have built up herd immunity.”
The declaration echoes
President Trump’s words earlier this week when he returned to the White House
and asked Americans not to live in fear or let let the virus dominate their
everyday lives:
The declaration
dovetails with other research that has concluded lockdowns will
conservatively “destroy at least seven times more years of human life”
than they save.
Germany’s Minister of
Economic Cooperation and Development, Gerd Muller, has warned that lockdown
measures throughout the globe will end up killing more people than the
Coronavirus itself.
In an interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt,
Muller warned that the response to the global pandemic has resulted in “one of the biggest” hunger and
poverty crises in history.
Muller’s comments come five
months after a leaked study from inside the German Ministry of the
Interior revealed that the impact of the country’s lockdown
could end up killing more people than the coronavirus due to victims of other
serious illnesses not receiving treatment.
As we have
previously highlighted, in the UK there have already been up to
10,000 excess deaths as a result of seriously ill people avoiding hospitals due
to COVID-19 or not having their hospital treatments cancelled.
Professor Richard
Sullivan also warned that there will be more excess cancer
deaths in the UK than total coronavirus deaths due to people’s access to
screenings and treatment being restricted as a result of the lockdown.
His comments
were echoed by Peter Nilsson, a Swedish professor of
internal medicine and epidemiology at Lund University, who said, “It’s so important to
understand that the deaths of COVID-19 will be far less than the deaths caused
by societal lockdown when the economy is ruined.”
According to Professor
Karol Sikora, an NHS consultant oncologist, there could be 50,000 excess deaths
from cancer as a result of routine screenings being suspended during the
lockdown in the UK.
In addition, a study published in The Lancet that notes “physical distancing,
school closures, trade restrictions, and country lockdowns” are worsening
global child malnutrition.
Experts have
also warned that there will be 1.4 million deaths
globally from untreated TB infections due to the lockdown.
As we further
previously highlighted, a data analyst consortium in South Africa
found that the economic consequences of the country’s lockdown will lead to 29
times more people dying than the coronavirus itself.
Hundreds of doctors are also on record as opposing
lockdown measures, warning that they will cause more death than the
coronavirus itself.
Despite citizens across the
world being told to observe the lockdown to “save lives,” numerous experts who
are now warning that the lockdown could end up costing more lives are being
ignored or smeared by the media.
* * *
The Great Barrington
Declaration
As
infectious disease epidemiologists and public health scientists we have grave
concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing
COVID-19 policies, and recommend an approach we call Focused Protection.
Coming
from both the left and right, and around the world, we have devoted our careers
to protecting people. Current lockdown policies are producing devastating
effects on short and long-term public health. The results (to name a few)
include lower childhood vaccination rates, worsening cardiovascular disease
outcomes, fewer cancer screenings and deteriorating mental health – leading to
greater excess mortality in years to come, with the working class and younger
members of society carrying the heaviest burden. Keeping students out of school
is a grave injustice.
Keeping
these measures in place until a vaccine is available will cause irreparable
damage, with the underprivileged disproportionately harmed.
Fortunately,
our understanding of the virus is growing. We know that vulnerability to death
from COVID-19 is more than a thousand-fold higher in the old and infirm than
the young. Indeed, for children, COVID-19 is less dangerous than many other
harms, including influenza.
As
immunity builds in the population, the risk of infection to all – including the
vulnerable – falls. We know that all populations will eventually reach herd
immunity – i.e. the point at which the rate of new infections is stable –
and that this can be assisted by (but is not dependent upon) a vaccine. Our
goal should therefore be to minimize mortality and social harm until we reach
herd immunity.
The
most compassionate approach that balances the risks and benefits of reaching
herd immunity, is to allow those who are at minimal risk of death to live their
lives normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection,
while better protecting those who are at highest risk. We call this Focused Protection.
Adopting
measures to protect the vulnerable should be the central aim of public health
responses to COVID-19. By way of example, nursing homes should use staff with
acquired immunity and perform frequent PCR testing of other staff and all
visitors. Staff rotation should be minimized. Retired people living at home
should have groceries and other essentials delivered to their home. When
possible, they should meet family members outside rather than inside. A
comprehensive and detailed list of measures, including approaches to
multi-generational households, can be implemented, and is well within the scope
and capability of public health professionals.
Those
who are not vulnerable should immediately be allowed to resume life as normal.
Simple hygiene measures, such as hand washing and staying home when sick should
be practiced by everyone to reduce the herd immunity threshold. Schools and
universities should be open for in-person teaching. Extracurricular activities,
such as sports, should be resumed. Young low-risk adults should work normally,
rather than from home. Restaurants and other businesses should open. Arts,
music, sport and other cultural activities should resume. People who are more
at risk may participate if they wish, while society as a whole enjoys the
protection conferred upon the vulnerable by those who have built up herd
immunity.