The COVID Lockdown the Greatest Mistake in History?

We are now hearing, even from the WHO, that COVID-19 transmission is almost entirely by those exhibiting symptoms (and who are coughing & sneezing) – extremely rare otherwise.  Despite what we heard earlier that transmission can be by asymptomatic people – apparently that is extremely rare.  We now know, too, even from Dr. Faucci, that masks are not significant in preventing transmission – much less so than social distancing.  And that transmission on surfaces is likewise rare.  And there has not been a large spike as the shutdown has begun to end – e.g., in Florida, Georgia, etc. 

So the best strategy all along would have been simple isolation (quarantine) of those symptomatic, with some precautionary social distancing, and hand washing.  This is precisely what Sweden did, with success (and now with greater herd immunity against a second wave), and much less economic devastation.  And our U.S. rates would have been much better (e.g., in New York and New England generally) if we had been more diligent in focusing rather on isolating/protecting the most vulnerable populations in assisted living, as Florida very successfully did in comparison.

It appears to become clearer and clearer that the extended and pervasive shutdown was likely not necessary – at least not uniformly across the country.  New York’s high density population, mass transit, slow response, putting infected people into rest homes, etc. of course rapidly spread the disease in NY and to other states.  Western states have fared much better per capita.  The magnitude and adverse impacts of these mistakes is incredible, as Prager discusses in this article:  https://www.dennisprager.com/column/the-worldwide-lockdown-may-be-the-greatest-mistake-in-history/

And this has been obvious for some time to experts also in other countries – experts whose opinions were silenced.  Such as the one official in Germany who leaked the following report (you may have a challenge Googling it – it was explicitly censored by Redit and no doubt other sites, just as it had been in Germany).  The report is extensive and appears very authentic in content, style and vocabulary, and being somewhat fluent in German, I can vouch for as much of it as I have read and translated (a link to the original report is within this article):

http://www.gilmermirror.com/view/full_story/27750505/article-German-Official-Leaks-Report-Denouncing-Virus-as--A-Global-False-Alarm-?instance=secondary_stories_left_column

But of course authorities who were so insistent on the often arbitrary and illogical, draconian measures and their duration don’t want their policies to be shown wrong, especially when so unnecessary and so devastating to the economy and peoples’ livelihoods. And they don’t like comparisons with the seasonal flu that tend to put it in perspective, and diminish the scare factor justifying their measures. That won’t be good for their reputation or career.

But it’s something we need to keep in mind going forward – this likely won’t be the last plague or “emergency” where authorities will attempt to overstep their legitimate authority and functioning, and we will pay the price – not only economically, but socially, religiously, physical and mental health.  Maybe even politically and freedom-wise, when precedents are set.  This country was founded on rebellion against tyranny, and we apparently need to continue to battle it when it rears its ugly head.  And when we hear hues and cries to heed the “experts,” especially the more extreme ones, who have from the beginning been narrowly focused, wildly overestimated, and changed their positions multiple times on various matters.