The Great Barrington Declaration

[T]

https://gbdeclaration.org/

This declaration has some chops behind it. Damned
Limey's making sense again.


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.

On October 4, 2020, this declaration was authored and signed in Great
Barrington, United States, by:

[trader_4]

On Tuesday, November 10, 2020 at 7:39:46 AM UTC-5, T wrote:
> https://gbdeclaration.org/
>
> This declaration has some chops behind it. Damned
> Limey's making sense again.
>
>
> 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.

Total denial of the facts. When we and other countries were more in
lockdown, Covid was under control, the case and death numbers declined
sharply. Some countries, eg China, Taiwan, SK, NZ, AU took that time
to get in place massive testing and tracing, had a national plan,
made people wear masks, their populations cooperated together.
Unfortunately people like you, Republicans around the country
lead by Trump, dismissed the virus as nothing, refused to wear masks,
refused to social distance, demanded that we just pretend it's over
and normal again. Now we are seeing the results and it's
that which is rapidly accelerating and starting to produce devastating
effects. And it's not even winter yet.