Great Barrington Declaration

[Anonymous]

50,000 or so medical practitioners and scientists have signed the Great Barrington Declaration—which is skeptical about the prevailing COVID-19 policies.



https://gbdeclaration.org/">https://gbdeclaration.org/

[Anonymous]

Dr Deena Hinshaw announced that there have been more deaths from opiods than from Covid in the last few months..



All these restrictions are making it worse.

[Anonymous]

Dr Deena Hinshaw announced that there have been more deaths from opiods than from Covid in the last few months..



All these restrictions are making it worse.

I get the rationale of lockdowns. We can't overwhelm  our health care system. But, lockdowns have caused a lot of collateral damage.

[Anonymous]

Dr Deena Hinshaw announced that there have been more deaths from opiods than from Covid in the last few months..



All these restrictions are making it worse.

I get the rationale of lockdowns. We can't overwhelm  our health care system. But, lockdowns have caused a lot of collateral damage.

They certainly have..



I hope this doesn't repeat itself with the next pandemic.

[Anonymous]

It's a time for understanding



To say that we are living in stressful times would be the understatement of the century.



Let's hope the looming holiday season allows people to sit back and take a breather.



We have learned so much about COVID-19 and things have thankfully turned out to be nowhere near as bad as many first feared.



But in some respects, things are now worse than they were during the first wave.



It has taken months for the economic toll to finally set in. More businesses are closing by the day.



While we had a reprieve during the summer, many beloved activities and hobbies have been on hold since March.



Our passions are unique. Different people have different things that get them out of bed in the morning.



If you live for golf, you were likely able to get close to a full season of play in this year.



But if your passion is, say, watching music shows indoors, you've probably been flat out of luck.



Politicians and public health officials make staying at home and doing nothing sound so easy. It's not. It sucks the life out of the human experience.



Now they're angling to do it again for the holiday season. This is the time of year that is most about family.



It's Christmas for the kids. It's an important Christian holiday. It's a big time of the year for other religions as well.



Instead of flat-out trying to ban the holidays, officials should have discussed creative ways to facilitate safe holiday gatherings.



If people are willing to fly around the world to see their loved ones — which many have done in past years — then many would also have been OK with self-isolating or getting tested to prepare for a responsible gathering.



The holidays should have been a time for understanding — acknowledging both that COVID-19 does more easily spread in such gatherings and thus can only be celebrated with added protocols in place, but also that these gatherings are vitally important for the human spirit.



Public health officials have squandered an opportunity to offer people a pathway to a much needed gathering when so many other experiences have been cut off this year.



We need to do better.

[Anonymous]

We are well past using zero COVID as a response in North America and Europe. Would it even work in our more densely populated continents. I have my doubts it was ever an option.



ALEX VEZINA Vezina is the CEO of Prepared Canada Corp. and has a graduate degree in disaster and emergency management.



Should we go 'zero COVID?'

Strategy one way to end pandemic



he zero COVID concept and its associated tactics, such as "circuit-breaker lockdowns," are becoming mainstream talking points again and certain considerations are being lost in the debate.



Let's identify and address three questions about a zero COVID strategy.



First, what is it? Second, what are its boundaries? Third, what questions are being dodged in the discussion about it?



The zero COVID strategy is a society-wide lockdown that has been used by some countries, such as New Zealand and Australia, to control the spread of the virus and keep cases relatively low over the short term.



Its success depends on how long it can be sustained.



What you basically do when you have any uncontrolled community spread of the virus is to lock everyone in their homes (with armed guards patrolling the streets, if necessary) for all but absolutely essential trips.



This stops almost all movement in society.



Keep in mind that in the case of COVID-19, because it is so difficult to do effective contact tracing, any community spread is essentially uncontrolled community spread.



As part of this strategy, you also close your borders, for real, indefinitely, except for absolutely essential services.



Anyone crossing the border for any reason, by land, sea or air, must stay in a designated quarantine hotel or military base, under guard, for two weeks.



Because democratic countries are free societies, their governments will stop short of forcibly incarcerating the entire population.



Nor will they extrajudicially punish people as occurs in dictatorships.



But they may throw a few people in jail to set an example. Which brings us to the issue of boundaries in a zero COVID strategy.



There is a limit to the amount of coercion governments can impose on their own citizens in free societies.



As time goes on, the likelihood of the public tolerating this coercion will decrease rapidly.



The secondary consequences issue is also critical.



Certain organizations that are part of critical infrastructure supply chains need to stay open during a pandemic.



It's unreasonable to execute a particular tactic as part of a plan to save 5% of the population from COVID-19, if the strategy results in critical infrastructure breakdowns with greater harmful effects than the virus.



For example, massive disruptions of the food supply or long-term failure of the power grid. There is also the issue of finite human and material resources.



Think of personal protective equipment shortages, as well as a lack of specialized individuals, working to combat the virus, whose training takes several years.



A zero COVID strategy has to take into account what can reasonably be done, and what can't be reasonably done.



What types of questions are being dodged when the zero COVID strategy is being debated?



Here are a few:



⯀ How can private gatherings be controlled?



⯀ What makes schools safe to remain open, or reopen, if the target is zero cases?



⯀ Why don't we have more COVID-19 testing by now?



Again, it's not simply a question of a lack of financial resources.



Another part of the problem is that we don't have enough people qualified to preside over the testing process and there's no way to instantly produce them because of the required training.



The answer to these questions will generally be silence, or that there is no good answer.



For example, what would be required for contact tracing and testing to actually catch 100% of COVID-19 cases?



After all, Canada is not an island. What would we do about our border with the U.S. in a real zero COVID strategy?



What do we do if the vaccines and vaccine rollouts don't work as predicted?



Which leads us to the final question, which is what all of the other questions are really all about: When is quality of life more important than life itself?he zero COVID concept and its associated tactics, such as "circuit-breaker lockdowns," are becoming mainstream talking points again and certain considerations are being lost in the debate.



Let's identify and address three questions about a zero COVID strategy.



First, what is it? Second, what are its boundaries? Third, what questions are being dodged in the discussion about it?



The zero COVID strategy is a society-wide lockdown that has been used by some countries, such as New Zealand and Australia, to control the spread of the virus and keep cases relatively low over the short term.



Its success depends on how long it can be sustained.



What you basically do when you have any uncontrolled community spread of the virus is to lock everyone in their homes (with armed guards patrolling the streets, if necessary) for all but absolutely essential trips.



This stops almost all movement in society.



Keep in mind that in the case of COVID-19, because it is so difficult to do effective contact tracing, any community spread is essentially uncontrolled community spread.



As part of this strategy, you also close your borders, for real, indefinitely, except for absolutely essential services.



Anyone crossing the border for any reason, by land, sea or air, must stay in a designated quarantine hotel or military base, under guard, for two weeks.



Because democratic countries are free societies, their governments will stop short of forcibly incarcerating the entire population.



Nor will they extrajudicially punish people as occurs in dictatorships.



But they may throw a few people in jail to set an example. Which brings us to the issue of boundaries in a zero COVID strategy.



There is a limit to the amount of coercion governments can impose on their own citizens in free societies.



As time goes on, the likelihood of the public tolerating this coercion will decrease rapidly.



The secondary consequences issue is also critical.



Certain organizations that are part of critical infrastructure supply chains need to stay open during a pandemic.



It's unreasonable to execute a particular tactic as part of a plan to save 5% of the population from COVID-19, if the strategy results in critical infrastructure breakdowns with greater harmful effects than the virus.



For example, massive disruptions of the food supply or long-term failure of the power grid. There is also the issue of finite human and material resources.



Think of personal protective equipment shortages, as well as a lack of specialized individuals, working to combat the virus, whose training takes several years.



A zero COVID strategy has to take into account what can reasonably be done, and what can't be reasonably done.



What types of questions are being dodged when the zero COVID strategy is being debated?



Here are a few:



⯀ How can private gatherings be controlled?



⯀ What makes schools safe to remain open, or reopen, if the target is zero cases?



⯀ Why don't we have more COVID-19 testing by now?



Again, it's not simply a question of a lack of financial resources.



Another part of the problem is that we don't have enough people qualified to preside over the testing process and there's no way to instantly produce them because of the required training.



The answer to these questions will generally be silence, or that there is no good answer.



For example, what would be required for contact tracing and testing to actually catch 100% of COVID-19 cases?



After all, Canada is not an island. What would we do about our border with the U.S. in a real zero COVID strategy?



What do we do if the vaccines and vaccine rollouts don't work as predicted?



Which leads us to the final question, which is what all of the other questions are really all about: When is quality of life more important than life itself?

[Anonymous]

CDC: Drug Overdose Deaths Are Accelerating During COVID-19 Pandemic



Deaths from drug overdoses are accelerating during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).



Overdose deaths were already increasing in the months before the pandemic started, but the latest numbers suggest a further acceleration, the agency said this week.



Over 81,000 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States in the 12 months ending in May, the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a 12-month period, according to provisional data the CDC released.



According to the agency, that's an 18 percent increase since the previous 12-month period.



"The disruption to daily life due to the COVID-19 pandemic has hit those with substance use disorder hard," said CDC Director Robert Redfield in a statement. "As we continue the fight to end this pandemic, it's important to not lose sight of different groups being affected in other ways. We need to take care of people suffering from unintended consequences."



Shutdowns across the United States, or the forced closure of businesses, government agencies, and in-person schooling, kicked off in March and has continued in some areas virtually unabated since. In other states and counties, authorities have taken a more measured approach.



Experts told The Epoch Times in August that the shutdowns were spurring a mental health crisis. Dr. Carla Marie Manly, a clinical psychologist who specializes in stress and anxiety, said she has noticed "a huge surge in depression, suicidality, and anxiety during the pandemic,"

https://www.theepochtimes.com/cdc-drug-overdose-deaths-are-accelerating-during-covid-19-pandemic_3625365.html?utm_source=newsnoe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2020-12-19-3">https://www.theepochtimes.com/cdc-drug- ... 20-12-19-3">https://www.theepochtimes.com/cdc-drug-overdose-deaths-are-accelerating-during-covid-19-pandemic_3625365.html?utm_source=newsnoe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2020-12-19-3

[Anonymous]

50,000 or so medical practitioners and scientists have signed the Great Barrington Declaration—which is skeptical about the prevailing COVID-19 policies.



https://gbdeclaration.org/">https://gbdeclaration.org/

Some doctors here in the Peg are strong supporters of our code red and some doctors are vocal critics of lock downs.

[Anonymous]

Got to love the arrogance in statements by our politicians. That being Rachel Notley, Don Iveson, True Dope, even Jason Kenney or any other public servant: "We are all in this together." Are we now? To all of you, feeding at the taxpayer-filled trough. How much wages have you lost? How many businesses have you lost? How depleted are your savings? How much stress are you are under because you can't afford your mortgage or car payments? Are you telling your kids they can't go to dentist because you can't afford it? I don't think so. The only thing that really changes for you, when it comes work and wages, is that you might work less, due to some closures, but your pay hasn't changed, it is the same. So next time you want to spew that line, bite your tongue. It is insulting to all of us paying for your well being and you sound stupid.

[Gaon]

People only support lockdown martial law if it does not affect their livelihoods.

[Anonymous]

People only support lockdown martial law if it does not affect their livelihoods.

I supported lock downs in March, but then I heard about surgeries and treatments being cancelled, suicides, alcoholism and family violence increasing, and I changed my opinion..



Now, as three provinces in Canada get close to maxumum ICU occupancy, I don't know what else can be done..



But, I want to stress that lock downs are terrible, and I'm sorry you are working fewer hours Gaon.

 

[Gaon]

I know the coronavirus can be serious. What you wrote about is serious too. I do not like lock downs in Israel, and I do not like it here either.

[Anonymous]

I know the coronavirus can be serious. What you wrote about is serious too. I do not like lock downs in Israel, and I do not like it here either.

Nobody, save some people who look down on working familes likes lock downs.

[Anonymous]

I can isolate indefinitely. Years even. I did pretty well when i was a young redneck. My boy and his gal cannot. That is why lock downs are a haves versus have -nots thing. No wonder rich progs cheerlead for them.

[Anonymous]

Gaon is like any other skilled new immigrant. He came to Canada to work.