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COVID Scare 2.0 draws more counterattacks

COVID Scare 2.0 is already drawing more counterattacks as people point out the absurd inconsistencies in certain authorities’ statements.

Published

1 year ago

August 30, 2023

Terry A. Hurlbut

COVID Scare 2.0 draws more counterattacks

The government’s COVID Scare 2.0 plan is already drawing counterattacks, after journalist Tracy Beanz launched her preemptive strike last week.

COVID Scare 2.0 derided as nonsense

Joseph Ladapo, Surgeon General of Florida, already has signaled his intention to refuse to enforce renewed mask mandates or lockdowns. He flat-out encouraged people to “refuse to participate,” according to Just the News. Some colleges are already notifying students on Move-in Day to prepare to mask up and stay in their rooms. But the top doctor in Florida heaps scorn on the idea.

What do you call re-imposing mask policies that have been proven ineffective or restarting lockdowns that are known to cause harm?

You don't call it sanity.

These terrible policies only work with your cooperation. How about refusing to participate…— Joseph A. Ladapo, MD, PhD (@FLSurgeonGen) August 24, 2023

Becker News has more detail. Recall that the Lionsgate studio announced mask mandates for their offices and started promoting lockdowns.

We now learn that Lionsgate has revoked that policy. In a statement, they said the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health ordered them to require masks. Now, they say, the county changed its mind. According to The Wrap, some Lionsgate staff had come down with the disease. None have died, and now Lionsgate says they have the “outbreak” under control, according to Deadline. (The L.A. County Health Department has published a mask mandate rule. But an engine search turns up no independent references to a direct order from LACDPH to Lionsgate regarding mask mandates or staff outbreaks.)

COVID Scare 2.0 has another problem: no one believes the federal authorities anymore. Just the News reported yesterday that many fewer people believe either that vaccines (or masks) are effective, or that the public has anything to worry about. David Zweig, writing in Silent Lunch, roundly criticized legacy media for, as he sees it, exaggerating the threat. “Complete nonsense,” says Peter LaBarbera at WorldNetDaily.

An example of scaremongering

That hasn’t stopped several public health authorities and senior academic medical officers from trying to promote COVID Scare 2.0. Consider this thread:

Covid (@UCSF) Chronicles, Day 1249
While good data are far harder to come by than in the past, it’s clear that we’re experiencing another Covid uptick. Today: what that means and how you might choose to alter your behavior in response. (1/25)— Bob Wachter (@Bob_Wachter) August 18, 2023

Alas, one can't look at any single measure to quantify an uptick anymore. But all arrows now point in the same direction: up (⬆ wastewater,⬆ hospitalizations,⬆ deaths,⬆test positivity). Even my fave measure, @UCSFHospitals’ asymptomatic test positivity rate, is no… (3/25)— Bob Wachter (@Bob_Wachter) August 18, 2023

Why the uptick? It’s not the EG.5 variant – while it’s rising fast, it still makes up only 17% of cases. More likely, it’s the same reason we’ve seen this roller coaster for two years: after a 6-12 month lull in Covid, most folks have let down their guard. The virus… (5/25) pic.twitter.com/9Mm861NDlx— Bob Wachter (@Bob_Wachter) August 18, 2023

There's no "right way" to react to the uptick. It’s key to weigh your risk factors for a severe case (age, co-morbidities, vax status) & for Long Covid (same, plus women>men), along with your risk tolerance and how onerous you find “careful” to be. (7/25)https://t.co/J1pyMmWcvC— Bob Wachter (@Bob_Wachter) August 18, 2023

… vaccinated (and it IS irrational not to be), their chance of dying if they get Covid is less than 1 in 1000 https://t.co/YUqRNtI4sA, and their risk of Long Covid is about 1 in 20. For some, those odds are low enough that Living-Like-It’s-2019 is a reasonable call. (9/25)— Bob Wachter (@Bob_Wachter) August 18, 2023

First, if you were being careful in winter/spring 2023 (ie, still masking in crowded indoor spaces), it’s rational to resume that behavior now. Getting infected now is no safer than it was when you were being more cautious – both you & the virus are pretty much the same. (11/25)— Bob Wachter (@Bob_Wachter) August 18, 2023

… high, I’ll resume my more cautious approach in ~6 weeks: masking in crowded places & trying to minimize indoor dining. (I’ll start sooner if EG.5 variant grows to >40-50% of cases, since I’ll assume my July case is less protective vs. this more immune-evasive variant.) (14/25)— Bob Wachter (@Bob_Wachter) August 18, 2023

a) Although their risk for a severe case is low, it’s not zero &, per my reading of the data, the benefits of the boost outweigh the minuscule risks (yes, I said minuscule); b) The boost will offer some protection vs. getting Covid, though it’ll only be for 2-3 months;… (16/25)— Bob Wachter (@Bob_Wachter) August 18, 2023

Re: booster timing, since the new booster is likely to be significantly more protective against today’s variants, personally I’d wait for it rather than getting the old booster now. If you’re at high risk and choose to wait, you should act more carefully until your boost. (18/25)— Bob Wachter (@Bob_Wachter) August 18, 2023

It's true, the chance of rebound is higher with Pax than without https://t.co/KIRqKVNrxp, but a) it’s not that much higher; and b) rebound is more an annoyance than a health threat – a few days of recurrent symptoms and infectiousness, but near-zero risk of a severe case. (21/25)— Bob Wachter (@Bob_Wachter) August 18, 2023

I hope this is helpful as you navigate the current uptick and make tricky decisions. Particularly for the non-elderly who lack major co-morbidities, it’s not a terrible choice to live life normally, as long as you accept the ⬆chance that you’ll get Covid, and with… (23/25)— Bob Wachter (@Bob_Wachter) August 18, 2023

As for me, thanks for all your concern after my Covid-induced Head vs. Trashcan incident. I feel fine, my scars no longer scare most small kids, & all my neurosurgical issues have healed.
Plus, I became a grandpa to a beautiful granddaughter last week, so life is good. (25/end) pic.twitter.com/jwzlz0Z2kb— Bob Wachter (@Bob_Wachter) August 18, 2023

Zweig accuses Dr. Wachter of misinformation – meaning, lying. “The empirical reality is that pretty much every major facet of society has been operating without restrictions for a year or more,” he says, citing many examples. The point: one cannot correlate slacking-off of infection rates with lockdowns, voluntary or otherwise.

Terry A. Hurlbut

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Terry A. Hurlbut has been a student of politics, philosophy, and science for more than 35 years. He is a graduate of Yale College and has served as a physician-level laboratory administrator in a 250-bed community hospital. He also is a serious student of the Bible, is conversant in its two primary original languages, and has followed the creation-science movement closely since 1993.