“The pandemic’s over”! declared Professor Luke O’Neill on the Pat Kenny Show yesterday.
For context, in January
2022, professor O;Neill, advisor to the Irish government, said it would be over
by Paddy’s day. To be fair, he didn’t say which Paddy’s day.
A year on, having
ditched all public health protections based on falsehoods (“it’s
over/mild/flu), with 25% excess deaths in December (the highest since the
pandemic began and fourth highest in the EU), hospitals
understaffed/overcrowded and mortuaries running out of space for bodies, is
O’Neill right this time? No.
Under the International Health Regulations,
only the WHO has the legal authority to declare the pandemic over. Not POTUS
and not King Canute O’Neill. The WHO recently declared the pandemic NOT
over, reiterating that we’re very much still in the midst of a Public Health
Emergency of International Concern: The highest alert level, stating otherwise
arguably constitutes misinformation.
So, what was the basis for professor O’Neill’s declaration
(this time)? In his words: "A very famous scientist Eric Topol, who is a
real-world expert, announced the pandemic’s over – which is a great
statement".
"I NEVER said or wrote the pandemic is over. Here is what I wrote---that indicators are we are entering an endemic phase but there are still major issues that loom. In a follow up email he confirmed that Professor O’Neils portrayal of his position is “not true”.
https://erictopol.substack.com/p/a-break-from-covid-waves-and-a-breakthrough
Why did professor O’Neill not mention these concerns raised by professor Topol, especially given the “Hello Again World - is it yourself that’s in it” (I may have added some words…) video just launched. The campaign should be accompanied by a health warning: Some elderly people may be harmed by following this advice but it’s a price worth paying for the economy. It’s the greatest public health heist since Camels got doctors to endorse cigarettes with the slogan, “smoke your anxiety away”, except worse: It’s sponsored by Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Breda Smyth".
(Update: By the end of March, hospitalisation had more than doubled and The Irish Times reported that we're entering another Covid surge. Incompetence, negligence, both?)
It's ostensibly about loneliness but loneliness is a consequence of forced isolation due to uncontrolled spread of an immune dysregulating, multi-organ damaging, disabling, deadly disease. Solution? Clean indoor air making it safe for everyone to socialise. Using a Jaws analogy, instead of ridding the water of sharks so that everyone can swim safely, Professor Smyth is trying to convince us that shark attacks don’t matter anymore.
I digress. Professor Topol has another concern….
“When 10 scientists who are following the pandemic and the virus evolution closely (including me) were recently asked what are the odds of another Omicron event in the next 2 years, the range was 5-30%, with no one thinking it is zero, and good convergence at the 10-20% level (unpublished data). And that’s in the 2-year window. SARS-CoV-2 will be with us for many years, so over time that likelihood forecast for a Pi new family of variants (and beyond Pi) increases. There are too many routes for us to see evolution of a Pi family of variants as shown in the graphic below. That is why we must prioritize development and validation of next generation vaccines that can achieve variant-proof protection (e.g. against all betacoronaviruses) and have improved defense against infection that can be accomplished via mucosal immunity with oral or nasal vaccines.
One of the unintended consequence of society buying the lie
that the pandemic is over is that it has removed the political imperative to
invest in sterilising nasal vaccines and clean indoor air. As well as ramping
up resources for sterilising vaccines, we need to demand Davos safe public spaces.
When the world’s leaders and billionaires met recently, access to delegates was
contingent on a negative PCR test, fresh outside air was blasted in, enhanced
by HEPA filters in every room and ffp2 masks made available. We need to demand
the same standards of clean air for schools, nursing homes, hospitals and
workplaces.
In the meantime, we can protect ourselves, our families and our communities by testing, wearing a well fitting ffp3/4 mask, doing as much as possible outdoors, ventilating and filtrating indoors, distancing and isolating when sick.
I want to give the last words to some of the unheard voices who tweeted in response to the CMO's “Hello Again World" video👇💓
“Imagine losing the person
you love most to a completely preventable transmissible disease like COVID-19.
That could certainly cause immense loneliness.”
“Thanks, my elderly parents cannot go out and socialize
because society is pretending COVID-19 is over and is not a lethal virus.
They're put in jeopardy in every public space as people don't wear masks because
of criminal negligence by public health officials”.
I wholeheartedly agree.
The Covid cautious people I know have the following in common: Emotional resilience (capable of resisting peer pressure), knowledge and compassion. They have the ability and strength to recognise and convert rational fear into seeking scientific facts and using them to adapt and survive. Fear avoidance, on the other hand, leads to denialism, i.e. denying reality in order to avoid a psychologically uncomfortable truth. Denialism is irrational. It involves the refusal to accept an empirically verifiable reality.
Former slave, Booker Washington said, “A lie doesn't become truth, wrong doesn't become right and evil doesn't become good, just because it's accepted by a majority".
The truth is that Luke O;Neill was wrong - Again. The pandemic is not over. Sorry.
Oíche mhaith, codladh sámh
Long Covid Advocacy Ireland: Long Covid Advocacy Ireland – THE VOICE FOR LONG COVID IN IRELAND
Long Covid Kids Ireland (Thanks to the legend, Sarah O'Connell💓): Long Covid Kids Rep.of Ireland 🇮🇪 (@LCKIreland) / Twitter
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