‘Going outdoors is what stops every respiratory disease’
A veteran scholar of epidemiology has warned that the ongoing lockdowns throughout the United States and the rest of the world are almost certainly just prolonging the coronavirus outbreak rather than doing anything to truly mitigate it.
Knut Wittkowski, previously the longtime head of the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design at the Rockefeller University in New York City, said in an interview with the Press and the Public Project that the coronavirus could be “exterminated” if we permitted most people to lead normal lives and sheltered the most vulnerable parts of society until the danger had passed.
“[W]hat people are trying to do is flatten the curve. I don’t really know why. But, what happens is if you flatten the curve, you also prolong, to widen it, and it takes more time. And I don’t see a good reason for a respiratory disease to stay in the population longer than necessary,” he said.
Governor Plans to ‘Send a Message’ to Anti-Israel Protesters – ‘They Will Be Put in Jail’
NYPD officer accidentally fired gun while removing anti-Israel agitators from Columbia University building
Which states could have abortion on the ballot in 2024?
Sharpton Admits Truth on MSNBC: How Can Left Say Jan. 6 Was Wrong, But Not Anti-Semitic Campus Protests?
Trump-backed Brad Knott on track to win Democratic NC House seat after opponent bows out before runoff
Filibuster against $4B Missouri Medicaid bill ends
Alvin Bragg’s Team Begs Judge to Pile Even More Punishment on Trump
Watch: Kristi Noem Responds to Critics; Calls Outrage ‘Fake News’
Florida landlord evicted squatters one year ago, her story helped pass a bill to protect homeowners
Newsom’s ‘failure’ to ‘do anything’ to stop university violence slammed by lawmakers
Fox News Politics: Trump’s ‘beautiful’ baby blues
Tenn. Passes ‘Baby Olivia Act’ Requiring Public Schools to Show Students Unborn Babies’ Development
‘The Lion King’ Prequel Director Responds to Fans Calling Disney a ‘Soulless Machine’
Alabama lawmakers advance bill letting inmates speak at parole hearings
Sen. Tom Cotton takes aim at student loan forgiveness for anti-Israel agitators
“With all respiratory diseases, the only thing that stops the disease is herd immunity. About 80% of the people need to have had contact with the virus, and the majority of them won’t even have recognized that they were infected, or they had very, very mild symptoms, especially if they are children. So, it’s very important to keep the schools open and kids mingling to spread the virus to get herd immunity as fast as possible, and then the elderly people, who should be separated, and the nursing homes should be closed during that time, can come back and meet their children and grandchildren after about 4 weeks when the virus has been exterminated,” he added.
Wittkowski argued that the standard cycle of respiratory diseases is a two-week outbreak, including a peak, after which “it’s gone.” He pointed out that even in a regime of “social distancing,” the virus will still find ways to spread, just more slowly:
Governor Plans to ‘Send a Message’ to Anti-Israel Protesters – ‘They Will Be Put in Jail’
NYPD officer accidentally fired gun while removing anti-Israel agitators from Columbia University building
Which states could have abortion on the ballot in 2024?
Sharpton Admits Truth on MSNBC: How Can Left Say Jan. 6 Was Wrong, But Not Anti-Semitic Campus Protests?
Trump-backed Brad Knott on track to win Democratic NC House seat after opponent bows out before runoff
Filibuster against $4B Missouri Medicaid bill ends
Alvin Bragg’s Team Begs Judge to Pile Even More Punishment on Trump
Watch: Kristi Noem Responds to Critics; Calls Outrage ‘Fake News’
Florida landlord evicted squatters one year ago, her story helped pass a bill to protect homeowners
Newsom’s ‘failure’ to ‘do anything’ to stop university violence slammed by lawmakers
Fox News Politics: Trump’s ‘beautiful’ baby blues
Tenn. Passes ‘Baby Olivia Act’ Requiring Public Schools to Show Students Unborn Babies’ Development
‘The Lion King’ Prequel Director Responds to Fans Calling Disney a ‘Soulless Machine’
Alabama lawmakers advance bill letting inmates speak at parole hearings
Sen. Tom Cotton takes aim at student loan forgiveness for anti-Israel agitators
You cannot stop the spread of a respiratory disease within a family, and you cannot stop it from spreading with neighbors, with people who are delivering, who are physicians—anybody. People are social, and even in times of social distancing, they have contacts, and any of those contacts could spread the disease. It will go slowly, and so it will not build up herd immunity, but it will happen. And it will go on forever unless we let it go.
Asked about Anthony Fauci, the White House medical expert who for weeks has been predicting significant numbers of COVID-19 deaths in America as well as major ongoing disruptions to daily life possibly for years, Wittkowski replied: “Well, I’m not paid by the government, so I’m entitled to actually do science.”
Story cited here.
Scroll down to leave a comment:
