by Fed Up Texas Chick
With all the hype around COVID-19, it sometimes seems that lockdowns were introduced in 2020 at the onset of the pandemic. However, lockdowns are certainly not a new concept. In fact, there have been advocates for lockdowns for thousands of years — first with the bubonic plague and more recently with the Spanish flu 100 years ago.
In one example in modern times, Canadian researcher Denis G. Rancourt wrote A Review of Science Relevant to COVID-19 Social Policy examining the use of masks and other lockdown edicts. His conclusion?
“The degree to which governments, the mainstream media, and the institutional propagandists can decide to operate in a science vacuum or select only incomplete science that serves their interests demonstrates how ludicrous these policies really are.” Rancourt concluded by saying, “Such recklessness is also certainly the case with the current global lockdown of over 1 billion people, an unprecedented experiment in medical and political history.”
Fast forward to 2022. How has this unprecedented experiment turned out? Not so well, actually.
A new paper from Johns Hopkins University created quite a stir in early February 2022 when it showed that the COVID-19 lockdowns had “little to no effect” on COVID-19 mortality, but instead had severe social and economic costs. The study, conducted by three professors from around the world, looked at 24 studies evaluating the lockdown. Their analysis found that the lockdowns in Europe and the United States only reduced COVID-19 mortality by an average of 0.2%. They determined that lockdowns have been “ill-founded” and should be rejected as a pandemic policy instrument.
Lockdowns are killing people
In July 2020, US Surgeon General Jerome Adams noted California experienced a resurgence in COVID-19 despite having some of the strictest lockdown measures in the world. Dr. Scott Atlas, a neuroradiologist who served as an advisor to President Trump during the pandemic, was very supportive of natural herd immunity. His position was criticized by Bill Gates (!) for not having a background in infectious disease or epidemiology.
In 2021, Atlas gave interviews attesting to the fact that lockdowns were causing great harm. In fact, Atlas gave proof that they were killing people, hitting low-income families the hardest. In January 2022, Atlas doubled down, giving these stunning statistics regarding the results of national lockdowns:
- 130 million people around the world pushed into abject poverty
- 400,000 new deaths from tuberculosis
- Millions of additional babies dying of malaria
- 325,000 Americans skipped chemotherapy in Spring 2020
- Half of heart attacks/strokes did not call an ambulance
- 65 to 75% of cancer screenings missed
- 85% of living organ transplants not done
- 300% increase in teenage self-harm
- 200% to 300% increase in teenage anxiety and depression
- 52% of college-aged kids gained unwanted 28 pounds in 2020
Atlas is right. Searching on PubMed for “COVID-19 lockdown” produces nearly 7,000 results. Here are some of the highlights.
- Over time, the actual data emerged showing that infection fatality rates were much lower than models had predicted and clarified that the most “at-risk” were persons over age 70 with comorbidities.
- Information has emerged of significant collateral damage caused by the lockdowns: food insecurity, poverty, unemployment, school closure, loneliness, and interrupted healthcare. Critical care physician Ari Joffe published a cost-benefit analysis showing that the lockdowns are far more harmful to health than COVID
Nutrition was greatly affected, particularly in young adults showing a nearly 50 percent increase in bread consumption and a nearly 65 percent increase in sugar. Behaviors were often accompanied by increased alcohol consumption and decreased physical activity. Food insecurity abounded in low to middle-income countries. In an effort to curb the virus, midday meals were stopped in Indian schools, a move that greatly and disproportionately affected poorer children. In fact, India estimates are that nearly 1 million children aged six months to six years were severely malnourished due to the lockdowns. Deaths in Indian children under five years old were not due to COVID-19; 68 percent of these deaths stemmed from malnutrition.
The situation in India is representative of the situation in many countries. Many countries have been overwhelmed, unable to respond effectively to the pandemic due to a lack of resources and public health infrastructure. The disparities between the affluent and the poor are much more pronounced – the rich got much richer, and the poor became even more impoverished.
Lockdowns and Societal Implosion
The COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and job losses created a downward spiral for millions of families resulting in massive world hunger and spiraling poverty. Vulnerable groups are much more at risk for health inequity, and the fear and stress of the pandemic and the lockdowns have shattered mental health for many individuals. Violence increased due to these situations, including domestic conflicts, depression, and loneliness. One out of every 10 Indian women polled needed domestic violence services during the pandemic.
Routine health services have been disrupted by the loss of healthcare workers. People have spent an inordinate amount of time waiting for basic medical treatments, cancer screenings, and prenatal care. Some doctors, such as Scott Atlas and Sherri Tenpenny have spoken out about these topics all along. Doctors like Johns Hopkins surgeon and professor Martin Makary blasted his own institution for publishing their own lockdown study. Others are just now seeing the vulnerabilities caused by the lockdowns. Was causing harm The Plan all along?
Dr. Kerry Chant, chief health officer for the Canadian city of New South Wales, seems to indicate that it was. When Chant was asked about contract tracing in Australia, she replied, “We will be looking at what contact tracing looks like in the new world order.” Lockdowns were likely used to keep the sheeple in compliance. We are just starting to see the multifaceted repercussions.
The adverse health repercussions that occurred during the pandemic will reverberate across the globe for decades to come.
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Fed Up Texas Chick is a contributing writer for The Tenpenny Report. She’s a rocket scientist turned writer, having worked in the space program for many years. She is a seasoned medical writer and researcher who is fighting for medical freedom for all of us through her work.