COVID-19 SCIENCE
Countries used science to justify their responses but ignored perspective. Science without perspective is no science.
By Dr Juergen Ude | February 14th 2021
There was no perspective placed on Covid-19 infections and deaths. Annual flu cases (up to 1.2 billion) exceed the total reported SARS-CoV-2 cases of 83 million in 2020 by up to a factor of 14.
Comparisons with flu deadliness have according to our standards been unscientific and biased and thus provide no perspective.
There is in fact no evidence that the flu has lower mortality rates than SARS-CoV-2 and its related Covid-19 illness. This is especially so when considering Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs). Many strains of Influenza affect predominantly younger people, in stark contrast to the predominant mortality impacts of the current SARS-Cov-2 on the elderly and the aged with multiple comorbidities.
Relative to other causes of deaths, Covid-19 reported deaths in all of 2020 are high, but less than 1/3 of all respiratory diseases in 2017, and around half of virus-related respiratory diseases. Why do we not have permanent social distancing to minimize other respiratory diseases? Perhaps it is not realistic, if so, then is it realistic bringing the world to a standstill when reported deaths are 2 in 10000 globally.
The number is likely lower if only deaths caused specifically and with reasonable certainty by SARS-CoV-2 were considered, instead of as per definitions used by public health authorities.
Road injuries were 1.24 million in 2017. That is not much less than Covid-19 deaths. We do not need to lockdown cities to remove this source of death and loss of quality of life for many. Car accidents maim. All we need to do is replace private transport with public transport. Why don’t we? Because this will destroy the car industry and result in 15 million job losses globally?
But that is a fraction of the jobs lost due to the reaction to the Corona Virus.
“Hundreds of millions of people worldwide have lost their jobs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. But what about the 1.6 billion workers in the “informal sector” – half the global workforce – who didn’t have a steady job to start with?”
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/2020/0506/No-jobs-so-what-future-Half-the-world-s-workforce-on-the-edge
The global deaths attributed to Covid-19 in all of 2020 is 2 per 10000 of the world’s population, nowhere near black death percentages of 30% to 60% of Europe’s population. Similarly, as above, the number is likely lower if only deaths caused specifically and with reasonable certainty by SARS-CoV-2 were considered instead of as per definitions used by public health authorities.
Most importantly, we have lost perspective relative to what used to important. Historically leaders caused millions of deaths declaring wars to protect our freedom and way of life. Saving lives took second place, our freedom number one. Now we have reversed this. Freedom and the right to choose our own risks take second place.