Tag: pandemic

Public Health Erred on the Side of Catastrophe

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, proponents of lockdowns, shelter-in-place orders, mask mandates and other coercive government interventions have characterized these measures as benevolently “erring on the side of caution.” 

Now, as the grim toll of those public health measures comes into ever-sharper focus, it’s increasingly clear those characterizations were terribly wrong. 

What’s less readily apparent, however, is how the very use of the “erring on the side of caution” framing was injurious in itself—by thwarting reasoned debate of public health policies, diverting attention from unintended consequences, and buffering the Covid regime’s architects from accountability.

To understand how the misuse of “erring on the side of caution” performed a sort of mass hypnosis that coaxed populations into two years of submission to disastrous, overreaching policies, consider how the expression is typically used. 

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A FEMA document about nuclear explosions reveals the utter fatuousness of our bureaucracy

No matter the purpose for which they’re established, bureaucracies often become ends in themselves, self-perpetuating entities that generate paper to justify their existence.  That seems to be the case with FEMA, at least insofar as its rules for nuclear disasters go.  Some poor desk drone was given the task of updating FEMA documents to reflect the CDC’s ridiculous COVID requirements.  That drone worked hard, with the result being that the FEMA guidelines for a nuclear explosion now include masks and social distancing in bomb shelters.

Once again, Libs of Tik Tok has the news on her irreplaceable Twitter account.  She (or someone with whom she communicates) felt that, with Putin threatening to start a nuclear war, it might be useful to check out the government’s guidance for responding to the fallout from a nuclear attack.  That’s how we learn that someone at FEMA laboriously updated FEMA guidelines with CDC requirements about social distancing and masks.

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Biden claims COVID-19 keeps Americans from seeing ‘things have gotten so much better for them’

President Joe Biden claimed the COVID-19 pandemic has made it psychologically difficult for Americans to feel happy despite their improving economic circumstances.

During an extensive interview with Brian Tyler Cohen that aired Saturday, the progressive host asked Biden to address frustration that some Democrats might feel that the party’s agenda is not moving forward quickly enough despite Democrats controlling both Congress and the White House.

Biden replied by suggesting that the psychological toll of COVID-19 prevents some Americans from seeing the progress that has been made under his administration.

“I think the biggest impact of the psychology of the country has been COVID,” said Biden, pointing out how more than 1 million Americans have died from the virus.

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Bill Gates says we could prevent the ‘next’ pandemic if everyone acts like Australia did

We’ve done quite a few posts on the draconian measures Australia has taken to fight the spread of COVID-19. The country locked down hard, and fenced-in quarantine camps were built to contain anyone who might have been exposed.

At the Munich Security Conference earlier this month, Gates said that the next pandemic could be avoided if every country followed Australia’s example.

Megan Sauer reports:

Gates cited Australia’s Covid response as the gold standard to follow. The country reopened its international borders this week for the first time since March 2020. Over the course of the pandemic, returning citizens and approved international travelers have been required to quarantine in hotels guarded by police and military members. Australia’s states even periodically locked down their respective borders.

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There’s reason to believe Australia’s blueprint may have been less successful elsewhere: Its population of nearly 26 million is relatively small, and it’s an island without any land borders. But Gates still called it a “true outlier.”

“They orchestrated diagnostics, they executed quarantine policies, and they have a death rate in a different league than other rich countries,” Gates said. “And everybody had the capability to do that.”

The entire continent has a population under 26 million.

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Ohio and Texas Issue Warning on Toxic Chemical Found in Mailed At-Home COVID-19 Testing Kit

The at-home rapid COVID-19 tests contained a toxic chemical that can be really harmful and even life-threatening when exposed to a large amount of the chemicals.

Ohio and Texas issued a warning after seeing an increase in reports related to sodium azide poisoning, a chemical found in test kits after Biden promised to give 500 million Covid test kits to Americans.

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center released a statement regarding an “increase in accidental exposures to a substance in these kits.”

Cincinnati reported:

The substance is sodium azide, and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center’s Drug and Poison Information Center has seen a surge in calls about exposures to the chemical since more people started self-testing for COVID-19 at home.

“We started getting our first exposures to these test kits around early November,” said Sheila Goertemoeller, pharmacist and clinical toxicologist for the center. “It was, really, all ages.” The calls to the local center mirror what’s been happening nationally.

Sodium azide, often used as a preservative, is a liquid reagent in several of the COVID-19 test kits, she said. Ingesting it can cause low blood pressure, which can result in dizziness, headaches or palpitations. Exposure to it can also cause skin, eye or nostril irritation.

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