{"id":162404,"date":"2020-06-08T12:01:31","date_gmt":"2020-06-08T11:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=162404"},"modified":"2020-12-02T10:09:24","modified_gmt":"2020-12-02T10:09:24","slug":"facts-about-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2020\/06\/facts-about-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Facts about Covid-19"},"content":{"rendered":"
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May 2020 – <\/em>Fully referenced facts about Covid-19, provided by experts in the field, to help our readers make a realistic risk assessment.
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\u201cThe only means to fight the plague is honesty.\u201d<\/em> (Albert Camus, 1947)<\/p>\n

Overview<\/h4>\n
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  1. According to data from the best-studied countries and regions, the lethality of Covid19 is about 0.2%<\/a>, which is in the range of a severe influenza<\/a> (flu) and much lower than initially assumed<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  2. Even in the global \u201chotspots\u201d, the risk of death for the general population of school and working age is typically in the range of a daily car ride to work<\/a>. The risk was initially overestimated because many people with only mild or no symptoms were not taken into account.<\/li>\n
  3. Up to 80% of all test-positive persons remain symptom-free<\/a>. Even among 70-79 year olds, about 60%<\/a> remain symptom-free. Over 95% of all persons develop mild symptoms<\/a> at most.<\/li>\n
  4. Up to 60% of all persons may already have a certain cellular background immunity<\/a> to Covid19 due to contact with previous coronaviruses (i.e. common cold viruses).<\/li>\n
  5. The median or average age of the deceased in most countries (including Italy<\/a>) is over 80 years and only about 4%<\/a> of the deceased had no serious preconditions. The age and risk profile of deaths thus essentially corresponds to normal mortality<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  6. In many countries, up to two thirds of all extra deaths occurred in nursing homes<\/a>, which do not benefit from a general lockdown. Moreover, in many cases it is not clear<\/a> whether these people really died from Covid19 or from extreme stress<\/a>, fear and loneliness.<\/li>\n
  7. Up to 50% of all additional deaths may have been caused not by Covid19<\/a>, but by the effects of the lockdown, panic and fear<\/a>. For example, the treatment of heart attacks and strokes decreased<\/a> by up to 60% because many patients no longer dared to go to hospital.<\/li>\n
  8. Even in so-called \u201cCovid19 deaths\u201d it is often not clear<\/a> whether they died from<\/em> or with<\/em> coronavirus (i.e. from underlying diseases) or if they were counted as\u00a0\u201cpresumed cases\u201d<\/a> and not tested at all. However, official figures usually do not reflect<\/a> this distinction.<\/li>\n
  9. Many media reports of young and healthy people dying from Covid19 turned out to be false: many of these young people either did not die<\/a> from Covid19, they had already been seriously ill<\/a> (e.g. from undiagnosed leukaemia), or they were in fact 109 instead of 9<\/a> years old. The claimed increase in Kawasaki disease in children also turned out to be false<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  10. The normal overall mortality per day<\/em> is about 8000 people<\/a> in the US, about 2600 in Germany and about 1800 in Italy. Influenza mortality per season is up to 80,000<\/a> in the US and up to 25,000<\/a> in Germany and Italy. In several countries Covid19 deaths remained below<\/a> strong flu seasons.<\/li>\n
  11. Regional increases in mortality can occur if there is a collapse in the care of the elderly and sick<\/a> as a result of infection or panic, or if there are additional risk factors such as severe air pollution<\/a>. Special regulations for dealing with the deceased<\/a> sometimes led to additional bottlenecks in funeral or cremation services.<\/li>\n
  12. In countries such as Italy and Spain, and to some extent the UK and the US, hospital overloads due to strong flu waves are not unusual<\/a>. In addition, up to 15% of doctors and health workers are now being put into quarantine<\/a>, even if they develop no symptoms.<\/li>\n
  13. The often shown exponential curves of \u201ccorona cases\u201d are misleading<\/a>, as the number of tests also increased exponentially. In most countries, the ratio of positive tests to tests overall (i.e. the positive rate) remained constant at 5% to 25%<\/a> or increased only slightly. In many countries, the peak of the spread was already reached well before the lockdown<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  14. Countries without<\/em> curfews and contact bans, such as Japan<\/a>, South Korea<\/a> or Sweden<\/a>, have not experienced<\/a> a more negative course of events than other countries. Sweden was even praised<\/a> by the WHO and now benefits from higher immunity compared to lockdown countries.<\/li>\n
  15. The fear of a shortage of ventilators was unjustified<\/a>. According to lung specialists, the invasive ventilation (intubation) of Covid19 patients, which is partly done out of fear<\/a> of spreading the virus, is in fact often counterproductive<\/a> and damaging to the lungs.<\/li>\n
  16. Contrary to original assumptions, various studies have shown<\/a> that there is no evidence<\/a> of the virus spreading through aerosols (i.e. tiny particles floating<\/em> in the air) or through smear infections<\/a> (e.g. on door handles or smartphones). The main modes of transmission are direct<\/em> contact and droplets<\/em> produced when coughing or sneezing.<\/li>\n
  17. There is also no scientific evidence<\/a> for the effectiveness of face masks in healthy<\/em> or asymptomatic<\/em> individuals. On the contrary, experts warn that such masks interfere with normal breathing and may become\u00a0\u201cgerm carriers\u201d<\/a>. Leading doctors called them a\u00a0\u201cmedia hype\u201d and\u00a0\u201cridiculous\u201d<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  18. Many clinics in Europe and the US remained strongly underutilized<\/a> or almost empty during the Covid19 peak and in some cases had to send staff home<\/a>. Numerous operations and therapies were cancelled<\/a>, including many cancer screenings and organ transplants.<\/li>\n
  19. Several media were caught trying to dramatize<\/a> the situation in hospitals, sometimes even with manipulative images and videos. In general, the unprofessional reporting<\/a> of many media maximized fear and panic in the population.<\/li>\n
  20. The virus test kits used internationally are prone to errors<\/a> and can produce false positive and false negative results. Moreover, the official virus test was not clinically validated<\/a> due to time pressure and may sometimes react positive to other coronaviruses.<\/li>\n
  21. Numerous internationally renowned experts<\/a> in the fields of virology, immunology and epidemiology consider the measures taken to be counterproductive<\/a> and recommend rapid natural immunisation<\/a> of the general population and protection of risk groups. The risks for children are virtually zero<\/a> and closing schools was never medically warranted.<\/li>\n
  22. Several medical experts described vaccines against coronaviruses as unnecessary<\/a> or even dangerous<\/a>. Indeed, the vaccine against the so-called swine flu<\/a> of 2009, for example, led to sometimes severe neurological damage<\/a> and lawsuits in the millions.<\/li>\n
  23. The number of people suffering from unemployment, psychological problems<\/a> and domestic violence as a result of the measures has reached historic record values<\/a>. Several experts predict that the measures\u00a0will claim more lives<\/a> than the virus itself. According to the UN millions of people<\/a> around the world may fall into absolute poverty and famine.<\/li>\n
  24. NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden warned that the \u201ccorona crisis\u201d will be used for the massive and permanent expansion<\/a> of global surveillance. The renowned virologist Pablo Goldschmidt spoke of<\/a> a \u201cglobal media terror\u201d and \u201ctotalitarian measures\u201d. Leading British virologist professor John Oxford spoke of<\/a> a \u201cmedia epidemic\u201d.<\/li>\n
  25. More than 500 scientists have warned against<\/a> an\u00a0\u201cunprecedented surveillance of society\u201d through problematic apps for \u201ccontact tracing\u201d. In some countries, such \u201ccontact tracing\u201d is already carried out directly by the secret service<\/a>. In several parts of the world, the population is already being monitored by drones<\/a> and facing serious police overreach.<\/li>\n
  26. A 2019 WHO study on public health measures against pandemic influenza found that from a medical perspective, \u201ccontact tracing\u201d is \u201cnot recommended in any circumstances\u201d<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    See also<\/strong>:<\/p>\n