I haven't written anything here for a month. There has been an awful lot going on globally, and I thought I should take a step back and examine the events and perhaps reconsider some of my previous positions. After all, with so many people in the media and elsewhere telling me things were different from what I perceive, I thought I could be wrong? Could I be wrong about COVID-19? Could I be wrong about the motivations of Protestors? Could I be wrong about the insistence we remain on Lockdown? Could I be wrong about the efficacy of wearing masks? Perhaps.
I started writing about COVID-19 back in March. I questioned then the fear people had developed about a practically unknown disease. After reconsidering everything that has occurred in the world since then, I continue to wonder why everyone is so fearful. The world today has a population of approximately 7.8 billion people. This year there have been approximately 32.13 million deaths worldwide. This equates to 0.4% of the population. Of these deaths, 600k have been from COVID-19. This means 1.9% of all deaths have been from COVID-19. 0.007% of the population has died from COVID-19. The way I see it that puts the chances of any specific individual dying from COVID-19 very low.
Meanwhile, governments are now telling us we need to go into a second lockdown mode. This just two months after the States began to open up, and the economy started to recover, and millions went back to work. Now they want to shut it all down again. What do they expect to gain? The Lockdown's whole purpose was supposed to be to flatten the curve and allow hospitals and communities to tackle COVID-19 without becoming overwhelmed by cases. Now we are told we have to return to Lockdown because hospitals are becoming overwhelmed. However, we are not being told that the majority of new hospitalizations and ICU beds are not being occupied by COVID-19 patients but by individuals who had put off getting medical attention because the priority was on COVID-19. This fact has been stated on the news by various sources.
I know there has been a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases. Deaths, however, have remained below 1000 a day since late April. This is not to say 1000 per day is acceptable or inevitable. It is just an indicator that the worst is behind us. Many will say, but we are having more new cases than ever before. This may be true, but there are reasons. One reason has to do with the number of tests being performed. In late April, 200,000 tests per day were being performed, and only a couple of million tests had been performed in total. Today 800k to one million tests are being performed each day. Many of the positive test results would not have been detected previously due to the lack of testing capability. Today, fully 14% of the US population has been tested, while only 1.1% has been infected. During all of this time, the number of serious/critical cases daily has hovered around 15k. Worldometers.info
Throughout this entire crisis, it has been difficult to determine a proper course of action. From the onset, the experts told us one thing one day and another the next. First, the virus did not spread by human to human contact. Then it did. First, face masks were not helpful for those not infected. Then facemasks were essential and mandatory for everyone. First, we would see over 2 million deaths in the United States alone. Then it was 200k then it was 60k then it was 100k then it was 160k, now it is over 200k. First, the virus had come from the wild and got into a Chinese wet market where it jumped to a human, then it may have come from a lab but accidentally escaped. Back in early April, I wrote and posted a video on the origins of the virus. In the video, scientists claimed the virus had been manipulated genetically to target humans. The media, scientific, and intelligence communities said the claim was unfounded. Since then, numerous scientists have come out with additional studies and suggestions the virus was ready-made to infect humans.
My advice, respect that there is a contagion making people ill and taking lives. If you feel more comfortable wearing a mask in public, by all means, do so. Steer clear of those who don't but do not confront them, if you don't wear a mask in public, fine. Avoid places where crowds gather. Avoid confrontation with those who choose to wear a mask. Make sure you use an appropriate mask or face covering. The N95 mask is a respirator. It should form a seal between your face and the outside world; therefore, facial hair, i.e., beards, can prevent its proper function. It was designed to keep out particulate matter and airborne droplets. It does this through the use of a one-way valve. When you breathe in, the valve closes to prevent particles and droplets from entering, forcing what air does come in to flow through the fabric part of the mask. When you breathe out, the valve opens to allow the air you expel to leave the mask. What does this mean? If you are ill, you can still infect others because any airborne droplets carrying a virus or bacteria are expelled through the valve out into the open. The mask was designed to protect you, and not the other way around. These masks are more typically worn in construction, sandblasting or other dusty environments.
There is only one thing that is clear. We, the American Public and probably the world, are not being given all of the facts. We are being manipulated by the scientific community, politicians, pundits, and the news media.