COVID-19: an overview of the evidence

People continue to be concerned about the lack of open scientific debate in mainstream media and the worrying trend of censorship and harassment of those who question the narrative. Science without question is dogma.

The ‘sunk cost fallacy’ is a well known one. World War 1 is the classic example. By Christmas 1914 it was obvious to all that the war was a catastrophe, but to admit this was to admit that all the lives lost had been lost pointlessly. And no country would confess that.

However, after a year of pain, suffering and enormous loss, the UK was necessary to reach for new solutions to the COVID-19 problem and any future respiratory disease outbreaks. Humanity is necessary to learn from errors, acknowledge the harms of the measures that have been taken and account for them moving forward. Now is needed a more holistic, measured approach.

Many international studies bear out that lockdowns have proven to be a complete failure as a public health measure to contain a respiratory virus. They did not succeed in their primary objective of containing spread yet have caused great harm.

Lockdowns were explicitly not recommended even for severe respiratory viral outbreaks in all pandemic planning prior to 2020, including those endorsed by the WHO and the Department of Health. The reasons for ignoring existing policies and adopting unprecedented measures appear to have been (i) panic whipped up by the media (especially scenes from China), (ii) a reluctance to do things differently to neighbouring countries and (iii) the unfaltering belief in one single mathematical model, which latterly turned out to be wildly inaccurate (UK Imperial College, Neil Ferguson).

HART (Health Advisory and Recovery Team) is a group of highly qualified UK doctors, scientists, economists, psychologists and other academic experts. They came together over shared concerns about policy and guidance recommendations relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, they identify a need for public policy to reflect a broader and more balanced approach across a number of key areas, such as:

– Impact of masks and mandatory lockdowns on wider society;
– Assessment of the long-term impact of school and university closures;
– Re-evaluation of the evidence on transmission and the role of asymptomatic spread;
– Re-evaluation of diagnostic testing, track and trace and associated data analysis;
– The psychological impact of the government’s COVID-19 advertising campaigns (in particular the ‘sick until proven healthy’ directives);
– An urgent evaluation of the evidence base for safe and effective (non-vaccine) medicines to treat and prevent illness from SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, and more research where considered necessary.

Is necessary to find the courage manage differently and to admit mistakes. The USA is leading the charge here, with more and more states turning their backs on lockdowns and mask mandates. Moving forward, HART recommend the following steps:

1. Reinstate the existing pandemic planning policies from 2019, pending a detailed review of the policies adopted in 2020. Look to countries and states which did things differently. There should be a clear commitment from the Government that will never again impose lockdown.
2. Stop mass testing healthy people. Return to the principles of respiratory disease diagnosis (the requirement of symptoms) that were well researched and accepted before 2020. Manufacturers’ guidelines state that these tests are designed to assist the diagnosis of symptomatic patients, not to ‘find’ disease in otherwise healthy people.
3. Stop all mask mandates. They are psychologically and potentially physically harmful whilst being clinically unproven to stop disease spread in the community and may themselves be a transmission risk.
4. Vaccination. Abandon the notion that vaccine certification is desirable and that children should be vaccinated. There is no logical or ethical argument for either.
5. Devise a public education programme to help redress the severe distortions in beliefs around disease transmission, likelihood of dying and possible treatment options. A messaging style based on a calm presentation of facts is urgently needed.
6. A full public enquiry into the extent to which severe/fatal COVID-19 is spread in hospitals and care homes.
7. More funding and investigation of treatments for COVID-19, instead of only focusing on vaccination as a strategy. Given the high rates of hospital transmission, encourage a drive for more early treatment-at-home using some of the protocols discussed herein.
8. Divert funds. The not inconsiderable money saved from ceasing testing programmes can be diverted to much needed areas, such as mental health, treatment research and an increase in hospital capacity and staffing. The vast debts accrued during 2020 will also need to be paid off, a fact that seems to be worryingly absent from economic recovery plans.

This british group of scientists, medics and public health experts have put together a rigorously and widely researched document. Topics included are:

• COVID policies and harm to children – Professor Ellen Townsend; Dr Karen Neil
• COVID-19 vaccination in children – major ethical concerns – Dr Ros Jones
• Vaccine passports – an ethical minefield – Dr Malcolm Kendrick
• Asymptomatic spread – who can really spread COVID-19? Dr John Lee
• Economic impacts – the true cost of lockdowns – Professor David Paton; Professor Marilyn James
• Mutant strains and the futility of border closures – Dr Gerry Quinn
• ‘Zero Covid’ – an impossible dream – Professor David Livermore
• Masks – do the benefits outweigh the harms? – Dr Gary Sidley
• Psychological impact of the Government’s communication style and restrictive measures – Dr Damian Wilde
• Lockdowns – do they work? – Professor Marilyn James
• Mortality data & COVID-19 – Joel Smalley
• The ONS Infection Survey: a reevaluation of the data – Dr Clare Craig; Dr Paul Cuddon
• Promising treatment options – Dr Ros Jones; Dr Edmund Fordham
• Care homes – we must do better for the most vulnerable in society – Dr Ali Haggett
• Ethical considerations of the COVID-19 response – Professor David Seedhouse

Read the ful review of evidence gathered by this group here.

yogaesoteric
June 28, 2021