To begin with, I’m not a virus denier, and I follow the mandates and guidelines set out by our federal and provincial governments relating to the COVID-19 Pandemic. However, I do have an opinion about what’s going on.
My take is that this crisis is not as dangerous as it seems. Tragically, many people are getting sick, and some are dying, and that’s never a good thing. But the cases and death rates, which appear to be alarming, are reportedly being conflated with other causes.
Note the following examples, which I find confusing, if not downright equivocal.
“The number of COVID-19 deaths in Canada was 2028 as of April 23rd, 2020.
Number of deaths related to COVID-19*
Note: The total number includes publicly reported confirmed and probable cases
Last Data Update 2020-04-23 11:00 EDT”
https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/iframe/map.html
Following is a quote from an article published in The New England Journal of Medicine on February 28th, 2020, by Anthony S. Fauci, MD.
“If one assumes that the number of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic cases is several times as high as the number of reported cases, the case fatality rate may be considerably less than 1%. This suggests that the overall clinical consequences of Covid-19 may ultimately be more akin to those of a severe seasonal influenza (which has a case fatality rate of approximately 0.1%) – Anthony S. Fauci, MD
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe200238
Note the over-use of qualifying language, such as the words ‘if,’ ‘assumes,’ ‘may be,’ and ‘suggests.’
To what exactly does ‘This suggests’ refer? The antecedent is unclear. Does ‘a severe seasonal influenza’ refer to a specific outbreak? The indefinite article is redundant. Why use it? If this is an example of the Science that is presented by Dr. Fauci as justification for the draconian mandates that are being rolled out, shouldn’t the language be exact?
Health experts are terrifying everyone with computer models that are continually being revised as the narrative changes. The legacy media is deliberately scaring everyone, and a frightened population is syndicating their story on social media. In my opinion, this is crisis initiation.
I also think that most of our politicians are trapped between a rock and a hard place. Their political survival depends on taking this narrative seriously, and rightly so. However, does this necessitate the arbitrary imposition of incrementally severe restrictions, some of which are illogical and self-contradictory?
People have been intimidated or forced into compliance, at the expense of hard-won individual rights. Some in their panic have abandoned all critical thinking and common sense.
Virtue signalers on social media are frantically posting to gain favor with peers. Some businesses are engaging in deceptive practices and price gouging to leverage the crisis for their commercial gain.
Is this really our new normal? Considering the amount of push back online, from people with impeccable credentials and long histories of journalistic integrity, I think a turn around is imminent.
We are going to be OK.