Commentary: Health Professionals Say Lockdowns Were a Massive Mistake

October 11, 2020 by Reed Spaulding IV, MD 

President Trump caused a bit of a commotion this week when he didn’t die from the coronavirus. Much to the dismay of many folks on the left, he seems to be making a nice recovery from his illness. Perhaps what has offended people more than his continued life is the bravado that he is projecting post-hospitalization at Walter Reed. On Monday, he tweeted in part, “Feeling really good. Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.” You can almost imagine the blood vessels popping in folks’ eyes over at CNN and MSNBC. In these politically polarized times, while half the country mourns the commander-in-chief’s apparent survival, perhaps it’s worthwhile for all Americans (and indeed, folks all around the world) to reconsider the level of pure panic and fear that our governments and the media have instilled in us.

Trump shoots from the hip and often pisses people off. No shock there. Of course responsible citizens should be concerned about contracting SARS-CoV-2, but should they be irrationally afraid of it?

Coronavirus is certainly deadly in a small percentage of people who become infected, primarily those with advanced age and comorbidities (i.e. folks like Donald Trump). No one is denying that fact, and no serious medical professional would do so. With time comes data, and with data comes a responsibility for the soothsayers to gaze backwards for a change. True, some said early on that unfocused, unilateral lockdowns were detrimental, but those opinions were mostly viewed as outliers. Not so anymore.

The “Great Barrington Declaration” came to be after a meeting of world-renowned epidemiologists, economists, and journalists, sponsored by the American Institute for Economic Research. The original signers and co-signers are an impressive group of academicians, including well-respected professors from Harvard, Stanford, and Oxford, to name a few. As I write this, 5,201 public health scientists and 10,217 medical practitioners have signed this petition. The petition calls for what the authors call “focused protection.” Per the declaration:........To Read More....