‘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.
School Officer Stops Armed Teenager Before He Enters Building
2 US service members missing in Morocco after multinational military exercise, search underway
Colorado Dems Pass Law Banning Pet Stores from Selling Dogs and Cats
Rubio to visit Italy, Vatican amid troop drawdown call, tension with Trump, Pope Leo: reports
Somali Fraud Is Only a Drop in the Bucket Compared to This Indian Fraud Scheme
Cole Allen’s cross-country train musings show ‘scattered’ mindset of accused would-be Trump killer: expert
Midterm countdown: Democrats lead early, but GOP sees a path through the map
The ballot box showdowns this month that you need to watch
Massive fire destroys University of South Florida laboratory building: ‘Total loss’
War with Iran Poised to Erupt Again After Weeks of Ceasefire If Peace Talks Fail
Car Enthusiast Jerry Seinfeld Blasts EVs: ‘It’s a Big, Stupid Virtue Signal’
Breaking: Iran Peace Proposal Aimed at Ending War Under Trump’s Review – ‘I’m Looking at It’
Student charged after 5 stabbed at high school in violent altercation over vape pen
Activist remains perched atop DC bridge protesting Iran war, AI development: ‘The spirit moves me’
Abortion pill fight heads to Supreme Court as manufacturer warns of ‘chaos’ after ruling
“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:
School Officer Stops Armed Teenager Before He Enters Building
2 US service members missing in Morocco after multinational military exercise, search underway
Colorado Dems Pass Law Banning Pet Stores from Selling Dogs and Cats
Rubio to visit Italy, Vatican amid troop drawdown call, tension with Trump, Pope Leo: reports
Somali Fraud Is Only a Drop in the Bucket Compared to This Indian Fraud Scheme
Cole Allen’s cross-country train musings show ‘scattered’ mindset of accused would-be Trump killer: expert
Midterm countdown: Democrats lead early, but GOP sees a path through the map
The ballot box showdowns this month that you need to watch
Massive fire destroys University of South Florida laboratory building: ‘Total loss’
War with Iran Poised to Erupt Again After Weeks of Ceasefire If Peace Talks Fail
Car Enthusiast Jerry Seinfeld Blasts EVs: ‘It’s a Big, Stupid Virtue Signal’
Breaking: Iran Peace Proposal Aimed at Ending War Under Trump’s Review – ‘I’m Looking at It’
Student charged after 5 stabbed at high school in violent altercation over vape pen
Activist remains perched atop DC bridge protesting Iran war, AI development: ‘The spirit moves me’
Abortion pill fight heads to Supreme Court as manufacturer warns of ‘chaos’ after ruling
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.
