Coronavirus: Thread

[grarpamp]

COVID Lockdowns Will Be Remembered As One Of The Greatest Policy Failures Ever

https://mises.org/wire/covid-lockdowns-will-be-remembered-one-greatest-policy-failures-ever

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epub/10.1080/13571516.2021.1976051
https://www.nber.org/papers/w28930
https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2021/11/15/prime-age-employment-rate-is-recovering-unevenly-across-states
https://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-distance-learning-turned-into-lost-learning-2445350/
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2772834
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/teen-suicides-on-the-rise-mental-health-crisis-in-our-schools-experts-say/
https://s3.amazonaws.com/media2.fairhealth.org/whitepaper/asset/The%20Impact%20of%20COVID-19%20on%20Pediatric%20Mental%20Health%20-%20A%20Study%20of%20Private%20Healthcare%20Claims%20-%20A%20FAIR%20Health%20White%20Paper.pdf
https://www.npri.org/commentary/mayor-goodman-is-right-the-sisolak-shutdown-must-end/
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7012e2.htm
https://www.jogh.org/documents/2021/jogh-11-05013.pdf
https://www.npri.org/commentary/public-health-establishment-can-blame-itself-for-vaccine-hesitancy/
https://www.npri.org/commentary/whos-to-blame-for-normalizing-one-man-rule/

Lockdowns were one of the “greatest peacetime policy disasters of all
time,” concludes Professor Douglas Allen in a paper just published by
the International Journal of the Economics of Business.

Elsewhere, a team of researchers with the National Bureau of Economic
Research “failed to find” any evidence that lockdowns led to a
reduction in the covid death rate. In fact, the researchers—who
examined data from forty-three countries and all US states—found that
lockdowns were positively correlated with a higher total death rate.
That preventing people from engaging in work, school, and
socialization would cause widespread suffering is hardly surprising.
Sadly, Nevadans are all too familiar with this fact.

Governor Steve Sisolak’s lockdowns did nothing to stop covid. They
did, however, inflict widespread harm upon working-class Nevadans. A
recent analysis from the Pew Charitable Trusts found that Nevada’s
prime-age employment rate dropped a full 10 percentage points from
2019 to 2021. In other words, ten out of every hundred
prime-working-age Nevadans that were employed in the spring of 2019
are now out of a job. This was by far the highest rate of job loss
found in any state nationwide, and triple the average rate found among
the other forty-nine US states.

As bad as that is, nothing compares to the harm that Sisolak’s failed
policies inflicted on children. School closures caused massive
learning loss, which can have compounding deleterious effects that
lead to reduced future earnings, an increased poverty rate, and even
reduced life expectancy. Rates of mental health issues among children,
including acts of intentional self-harm, have skyrocketed.

These horrific costs were imposed without any corresponding benefits.
As even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now admits,
“COVID-19 transmission does not appear to be demonstrably more
frequent in schools than in noneducational settings.” A more rigorous
study published later by the Journal of Global Health found that
“children and adolescents had lower odds of infection in
educational-settings compared to community and household clusters.” In
other words, school shutdowns did nothing to stop the spread of covid.

The scientific data makes clear that these policies should never again
be implemented in response to covid—which, as a reminder, is less
deadly than the flu for healthy young children and comparable to the
flu for adults who choose to get vaccinated.

But, for whatever reason, many in the public health establishment have
been reluctant to acknowledge that the lockdowns, school closures, and
other draconian measures they championed in response to covid were
utter failures. Tragically, many other countries are still
implementing these dehumanizing and ineffective measures today. This
is a problem, given that covid is clearly here to stay, and that
American politicians have demonstrated an uncomfortable willingness to
emulate the totalitarian practices of other nations.

Sadly, nothing can undo the damage already caused by Sisolak’s failed
policies. But when the next rise of covid cases inevitably occurs, it
is imperative that Nevadans are represented by political leaders
willing and able to stand against the hysteria and groupthink. Never
again should our children and most vulnerable be sacrificed to placate
the misguided fear and neuroses of adults.

Lockdowns and school closures will go down as one of the worst
peacetime policy disasters of all time. Nevadans need political
leaders who acknowledge this fact, rather than those who would be
willing to repeat such catastrophes. Voters will have the ability to
make that choice when they go to the polls next November. I hope they
choose wisely.