‘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.
State Department Reopens Embassy in Venezuela Following Maduro Capture
Trump says he will attend Supreme Court oral arguments on birthright citizenship challenge
Illegal alien murder suspect avoided system as ICE pushes Dem governor to keep him locked up
Insanity: Far-Left Backlash Halts Mural Honoring Train Stabbing Victim Iryna Zarutska, Dem Mayor Calls Work ‘Divisive’
Feeding Our Future fraudster sentenced to just one year in prison by judge committed to ‘combating racism’
Dem gubernatorial candidate racked up eye-popping travel bill as AG during 400+ days traveling out of state
Trump floats dragging Congress back during spring recess to end shutdown — but one hurdle stands in the way
Bondi taps US attorney who voted against Biden 2020 certification for election integrity role
Gunmen massacre at least 12 in Nigeria on Palm Sunday in latest bout of attacks on Christians
Wild bodycam video shows cops storm chaotic teen ‘takeover’ as businesses trashed: ‘They come to fight’
NFL Star Comes to Defense of NBA Player Who Was Cut for Biblical Comments: ‘The World Calls Us Crazy’
On July 1, A Florida Airport Will Officially Become Donald J. Trump Int’l Airport and Get Corresponding New Airport Code
Missing paddleboarder found dead in Old Tampa Bay after a weekend disappearance near the causeway
Dem lawmaker sparks online firestorm after saying Iryna Zarutska mural doesn’t align with city’s values
Former San Francisco Human Rights Commission leader accused of ‘self-dealing,’ public corruption
“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:
State Department Reopens Embassy in Venezuela Following Maduro Capture
Trump says he will attend Supreme Court oral arguments on birthright citizenship challenge
Illegal alien murder suspect avoided system as ICE pushes Dem governor to keep him locked up
Insanity: Far-Left Backlash Halts Mural Honoring Train Stabbing Victim Iryna Zarutska, Dem Mayor Calls Work ‘Divisive’
Feeding Our Future fraudster sentenced to just one year in prison by judge committed to ‘combating racism’
Dem gubernatorial candidate racked up eye-popping travel bill as AG during 400+ days traveling out of state
Trump floats dragging Congress back during spring recess to end shutdown — but one hurdle stands in the way
Bondi taps US attorney who voted against Biden 2020 certification for election integrity role
Gunmen massacre at least 12 in Nigeria on Palm Sunday in latest bout of attacks on Christians
Wild bodycam video shows cops storm chaotic teen ‘takeover’ as businesses trashed: ‘They come to fight’
NFL Star Comes to Defense of NBA Player Who Was Cut for Biblical Comments: ‘The World Calls Us Crazy’
On July 1, A Florida Airport Will Officially Become Donald J. Trump Int’l Airport and Get Corresponding New Airport Code
Missing paddleboarder found dead in Old Tampa Bay after a weekend disappearance near the causeway
Dem lawmaker sparks online firestorm after saying Iryna Zarutska mural doesn’t align with city’s values
Former San Francisco Human Rights Commission leader accused of ‘self-dealing,’ public corruption
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.
