Lockdown - A final essement

Professor Gives Final Assessment’ on COVID Lockdowns

Government-mandated stay-at-home orders, school and business shutdowns, and mandatory face masks, all imposed to supposedly stop the spread of COVID-19, had little or no effect on expected mortality rates.  However, the collateral damage to society was huge, both medically and economically.

So contends Prof. Douglas Allen in his new report, Lockdown: A Final Assessment.  The evidence he presents makes a strong case that the entire strategy was a huge government error.

A lockdown was a government restriction thought to reduce COVID-19 transmission.  It included business closures, cancellation of public events, school restrictions, mask and distancing mandates, as well as stay-at-home orders.  The travel and service industry was devastated.  The healthcare system was destabilized.  The cancellation of surgeries and the delayed or absent medical care for mainstream health administration was the deadly consequence.

Sadly, the evidence is the lockdowns hurt us more than COVID and the mandate policy was a social disaster.  Since the government-imposed rules had only a marginal effect on the ultimate number of deaths, the enormous incidental cost reveals the disturbing reality the cure was worse than the disease.  The undeniable conclusion is the government's behaviour was a huge policy disaster.

It was said during intense COVID days, we perhaps allowed thousands to die in the course of trying to save some.  The cost/benefit estimates were all wrong.  Emotions ruled while politicians panicked, and there was no room for sober second thought as critics were silenced.  Contrarian employees were fired from their jobs.  The core mistake was concluding that only a severe lockdown could isolate the virus and stop its spread.

There was early evidence of failures of government decisions.  However, the high-minded controllers could not admit their error, so they doubled down with more.  The public was told policies were to reduce the load on hospitals and to prevent the healthcare system from being overrun.  Yet governments continued to enforce lockdowns, repeating the same ineffective, but costly policies even when infection rates were in decline.

Lockdowns created collateral death.  Many individuals missed regular medical checkups and the required treatment.  Medical examinations and surgeries were cancelled.  Therefore, the bottom line was that the chaos in healthcare was from administrative policy and not the disease.  Lockdowns only reduced COVID deaths by 3.2 percent, but caused death and economic hardship elsewhere.  It is likely impossible to measure how much lockdowns cost society in terms of worldwide food insecurity, international trade disruption, and reduced world travel.

Then locally there was a toll of increased domestic violence, increased substance abuse and employment disruption.  Children were vulnerable as they suffered education loss and interrupted social development.  The Sun Life Insurance Company says young people struggled with mental health.  Claims for mental-health drugs skyrocketed between 2019 and 2021.  The pandemic has taken a toll on the mental health of Canadians.

The double-down strategy required political support, and this came mostly from sources such as the “laptop class” and other malevolent whinners from the lockdown, and the soft heads terrified enough by the virus that they believed lockdowns were justified.  The scenario too easily fits the propensities of the political left to coerce and even become cruel on behalf of an ideology.  This explains some observations over the first two years of the pandemic.  First, the response to COVID-19 led to large increases in economic inequality.  Increased inequality meant that the relative positions of those at the top increased, giving this group more power in the competition for goods and services.   Second, there was from the beginning, a massive campaign of fear-mongering that created false assessments of the actual risk of the virus to the general population.  Third, the enforcement of lockdowns and other mandates increased over time, as the mandates failed.

Life is full of decision-making.  The wise learn from the evidence and adjust.  We have been reminded that misinformation can lead to bad decisions and cause serious negative impacts.  That's why the so-called cancel culture is so pernicious and dangerous.  One must dig deep and find the truth.  Our community needs reliable and accurate information to make the right choices.

Sadly, too many follow the wrong paths and swallow a predetermined narrative, engage in sensationalism, and present only one side of a story.  An independent reader-funded media outlet is essential to help one make up their mind on issues, no matter how heated or discriminatory are the voices. We need a revival of honest journalism and unlimited access to truthful and uncensored news, such as found here.