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News

It’s hurting but it’s just not working – The Critic

Unlike covid-19, this is a killer we have created and that we can do something about.  Boris called the first lockdown because the science pointed that way at that time, and the First Secretary, Dominic Raab, presumably renewed it because Boris was ill. But whoever renews the lockdown again would simply have blood on their hands.

The political reality is that the government has boxed itself in by allowing policy to be dictated by opinion-poll; it bowed to pressure to copy everyone else (apart from the free Swedes), then had to scare the public into compliance with the lockdown they’d demanded, and now the public is indeed scared. But look purely at the likely toll: even if declaring lockdown was originally the right move, leaving it in place can certainly be the wrong move. Protect the vulnerable, sure, but lift the lockdown: back to Plan A.

https://thecritic.co.uk/its-hurting-but-its-just-not-working/

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News

Government tells UK businesses: time to get back to work – The Telegraph

Businesses are being discreetly advised by ministers on how to get people back to work in the coming days and weeks amid growing concerns over the economic impact of the lockdown.  

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/04/24/government-tells-uk-businesses-time-get-back-work/

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News Opinion

The importance of courage – Spiked

Science is not a good guide for society. Of course science is essential to our understanding of the world and to the creation of the new insights, technologies and treatments our societies need. But it cannot tell us what is best for our societies in political, moral or economic terms…

If it is true that Boris put the country into lockdown partly in response to media pressure, then the media themselves may have a lot of questions to answer about the damage currently being done by this unprecedented freeze on working life and the economy.

https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/04/24/the-importance-of-courage/

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News

‘Instead of Coronavirus, the Hunger Will Kill Us.’ A Global Food Crisis Looms – The New York Times

The world has never faced a hunger emergency like this, experts say. It could double the number of people facing acute hunger to 265 million by the end of this year.

The coronavirus has sometimes been called an equalizer because it has sickened both rich and poor, but when it comes to food, the commonality ends. It is poor people, including large segments of poorer nations, who are now going hungry and facing the prospect of starving.

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Videos

There never was a surge but we’re in danger of losing our capacity to deal with the second wave because we panicked – Tony Heller

Tony Heller compares COVID-19 with other pandemics and explains why the lockdown may create an even more devastating second wave.

Medical professionals say there never was a surge, hospital activity is at a low and we’re in danger of losing our capacity to deal with the second wave because we panicked.

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News

Unprecedented collapse of Eurozone economy amid virus lockdown – IHS Markit

The eurozone economy suffered the steepest falls in business activity and employment ever recorded during April as a result of measures taken to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, according to provisional PMI® survey data. The month as saw unprecedented damage to the eurozone economy from lockdown measures coupled with slumping global demand and shortages of both staff and inputs.

https://ihsmarkit.com/research-analysis/unprecedented-collapse-of-eurozone-economy-amid-virus-lockdown-apr20.html

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News

Lockdowns Don’t Work – The Witherspoon Institute

Many policies provide public-health benefits in pandemics, such as making facemasks mandatory, cancelling school, and banning large assemblies and long-distance travel. But ordering people to cower in their homes, harassing people for having playdates in the park, and ordering small businesses to close regardless of their hygienic procedures has no demonstrated effectiveness.

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News Opinion

Coronavirus Lockdown and What You Are Not Being Told Part 2 – Off-Guardian

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News

Lockdown is the world’s biggest psychological experiment – and we will pay the price – World Economic Forum

Currently, an estimated 2.6 billion people – one-third of the world’s population – is living under some kind of lockdown or quarantine. This is arguably the largest psychological experiment ever conducted.

Unfortunately, we already have a good idea of its results

In short, and perhaps unsurprisingly, people who are quarantined are very likely to develop a wide range of symptoms of psychological stress and disorder, including low mood, insomnia, stress, anxiety, anger, irritability, emotional exhaustion, depression and post-traumatic stress symptoms. Low mood and irritability specifically stand out as being very common, the study notes.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/this-is-the-psychological-side-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-that-were-ignoring/

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Publications

Vets would not manage Covid-19 this way – BMJ

There needs to be a more effective and sustainable strategy to manage Covid-19 than the current economically ruinous policy, argue vets Dick Sibley and Joe Brownlie.

https://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/186/14/462.full

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News Videos

Coronavirus lockdown like a national heart attack – Peter Hitchens, talkRADIO

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News

US Oil Price Drops Below $1 per Barrel – As Demand, Storage Capacity Dries Up – 21st Century Wire

The penny is now starting to drop, as the markets begin to respond negatively to leading Western governments’ risky self-imposed economic Lockdown policies in their reactionary attempt to contain the spread coronavirus crisis. The economic apocalypse which experts were warning about, but which government have been actively ignoring, is beginning to arrive. 

https://21stcenturywire.com/2020/04/20/us-oil-price-drops-below-1-per-barrel-as-demand-storage-capacity-dries-up/
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News

For the sake of the young, this lockdown must end sooner rather than later – The Telegraph

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/04/18/sake-young-lockdown-must-end-sooner-rather-later/

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News

End Lockdown for Young to Give Economy a Chance, Research Says – Bloomberg

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-06/end-lockdown-for-young-to-give-economy-a-chance-research-says

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News

Where is the vigorous debate about our response to Covid? – Dr John Lee, The Spectator

“Barely a day goes by without a politician saying that they will be ‘led by the science’. But what we are seeing with Covid-19 is not ‘science’ in action.”

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/to-understand-covid-we-need-evidence-scepticism-and-vigorous-debate

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News

‘We are living in an era of global madness’ – Heather Mac Donald

Heather Mac Donald, New York Times bestselling author and Thomas W Smith fellow at the Manhattan Institute, discusses the destructive consequences of shutting down society in response to Covid-19, and why the virus is likely to inflame the culture wars.

https://www.spiked-online.com/podcast-episode/we-are-living-in-an-era-of-global-madness/

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News Videos

Perspectives on the Pandemic | Dr. David L. Katz | Episode 3

  • 00:58-How to minimize the risk of COVID-19
  • 03:52-Comparing the responses to a global pandemic
  • 08:53-Who is most at risk
  • 13:44-Is our global response warranted?
  • 17:17-Comparing COVID-19 to the flu
  • 20:55-Is the risk really that high?
  • 23:53-What is the fatality rate versus other common risk factors?
  • 25:2900:58-How to minimize the risk of COVID-19
  • 03:52-Comparing the responses to a global pandemic
  • 08:53-Who is most at risk
  • 13:44-Is our global response warranted?
  • 17:17-Comparing COVID-19 to the flu
  • 20:55-Is the risk really that high?
  • 23:53-What is the fatality rate versus other common risk factors? 25:29-The risk of labeling COVID-19 as a ?pandemic?
  • 26:14-Are the COVID-19 tests reliable?
  • 28:58-Should we be concerned about herd immunity?
  • 30:16-On the chances of getting a vaccine
  • 31:47-The return of ?measles parties??
  • 34:30-Breaking down the pros and cons of herd immunity
  • 37:25-Is lockdown making the problem worse?
  • 40:01-How to really hashtag Flatten the Curve
  • 45:45-Can we really trace the exposure for every person?
  • 48:06-Is authoritarianism growing in the name of public health? 50:37-Who can we trust when this pandemic is over?
  • 54:54-Industries? roles in the pandemic
Categories
Opinion

Top Israeli prof claims simple stats show virus plays itself out after 70 days – The Times of Israel

A prominent Israeli mathematician, analyst and former general claims simple statistical analysis demonstrates that the spread of COVID-19 peaks after about 40 days and declines to almost zero after 70 days — no matter where it strikes, and no matter what measures governments impose to try to thwart it.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-israeli-prof-claims-simple-stats-show-virus-plays-itself-out-after-70-days/

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News Videos

150,000 may die as a result of the shutdown – Peter Hitchens, talkRADIO

According Peter Hitches, the government has projected that 150,000 people may die as a result of the lockdowns. This is at around 10m20s in the talkRADIO interview.

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News

Boris is worried lockdown has gone too far, but only he can end it – The Telegraph

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/04/09/boris-worried-lockdown-has-gone-far-can-end/