Dr. Saphier: Lockdowns pushed by ‘arrogant’ CDC with no data, framework to back it up
Board Certified Radiologist Dr. Nicole Saphier on a new study showing mask mandates did not help schools open.
The numbers are in. As if there was much doubt about it, a new study has revealed that some of our nation’s bluest big states underperformed on COVID response compared to ruby red Florida and others. The number crunching which combined deaths, economic harm, and educational impact, was done by the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, and it's a doozy.
At the very bottom of the list of states, to the surprise of absolutely nobody who was paying attention, are New York and New Jersey. The Empire State’s handsy disgraced and former governor Andrew Cuomo was heralded as the leader the world needed on COVID just two years ago.
CALIFORNIA, NEW YORK HANDLED COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS THE WORST, FLORIDA AMONG THE BEST, A NEW STUDY SHOWS
Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, on Feb. 24, 2022. (Tristan Wheelock/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
But according to the study his state, and others with widespread lockdowns "had high age-adjusted death rates, they had high unemployment and significant GDP losses, and they kept their schools shut down much longer than almost all other states."
Meanwhile, as the nation continues to emerge from COVID, even in Democrat run cities, Dr. Anthony Fauci, of all people, is telling Americans it's time to assess their own personal risk of the virus. Dr. Fauci, a man so risk averse he wouldn’t place a bet on the sun rising in the East.
While it's great that Fauci and other leaders are finally coming around to the idea of living with risk so as not to destroy the entire economy and children’s education, what the study makes clear is that this should have been our government’s attitude all along. It will not be easy for former proponents of strict lockdown to accept this data, but then again they were the ones insisting we "follow the science."
Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies at a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Jan. 11, 2022. (Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images)
The plain, obvious fact of the matter is that states like Florida which opened up as early as late April 2020 never experienced the kind of death and destruction that detractors of Gov. Ron DeSantis warned of. It wasn’t "human sacrifice" as some in our COVID hysterical press put it. It was a calculated risk and it paid off.
Today in China, which gave us the virus and the inspiration for the lockdowns, we see millions again forced to isolate themselves in their homes. Remember when people complained, "why can’t we be more like China?" back in 2020? Does anybody want to be more like China today? Would any sane person today even think of closing down our cities as we did, ever again?
Sadly, we shouldn’t hold our breath for studies like this one, or even an eventual congressional COVID Commission, to dent Democrats’ appetite for lingering restrictions like New York City’s ridiculous workplace COVID mandate. Leaders like Mayor Eric Adams can’t get it through their heads that basically anyone who wants one can have a vaccine today and be protected from severe illness. Put another way, it's over.
These studies are important because they all show the same thing which is that the lockdowns were a mistake to begin with, and that by maintaining them long after their original purpose of keeping hospitals from overcrowding was achieved, harmed the lives of millions of Americans.
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Nobody is expecting a round of apologies from the Democrats who got this all so horribly wrong, their response will be very vague and nuanced, focused on what we couldn’t have known at the time. But many people did know at the time, including world renowned scientists who were basically censored by our leaders and by big tech platforms.
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Just as important as assuring the obvious, that lockdowns can’t be repeated, is for us to examine closely how and why so many terrible decisions were made in our bluest states. Did the personal desire for power influence those governors? Was it just inchoate fear that led them to shut it all down?
Whatever it was, the debate is now over. New York was wrong, Florida was right. And everyone needs to accept it.
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