A Stanford University epidemiologist is warning of the negative consequences of government-imposed coronavirus lockdowns saying the measures are probably “killing people.”
“We know that 95% of the population has practically minimal risk,” Dr. John Ioannidis told NBC Bay Area this week. “It’s unlikely that in the current situation, we are really saving lives. I think that probably, we’re killing people by following some of these measures for forever.”
A study led by Ioannidis, published this week by the World Health Organization, showed the infection-fatality rate of the virus could be as low as 0.05%, and only 1 out of every 2,000 healthy people under the age of 70 will die from the virus.
The NBC affiliate spoke with another Bay Area doctor who said he saw a “significant” decline in people seeking medical treatment when the lockdown orders were issued.
“Shortly after the shelter-in-place order came in, we saw a fairly significant decline in people seeking medical attention,” Dr. Chris Colwell, chief of emergency medicine at San Francisco General Hospital, said.
“We’ve had patients die in the emergency department, and shortly thereafter, having experienced the complications of not seeing medical care earlier,” Colwell added. “At least every week, we are seeing somebody who is going to suffer and is suffering severe consequences from having delayed care for fear of coming to the hospital.”
Another doctor featured by NBC, Yale-trained preventive medicine specialist Dr. David Katz, is one of the more than 9,000 doctors to have signed the “Great Barrington Declaration” calling for an end to lockdowns and stronger measures to protect the elderly.
Katz said the public is “more likely to be injured in a car crash this year than to get COVID” and has testified before Congress that prolonged lockdown orders can lead to unemployment, financial hardship, poverty, food insecurity, depression, anxiety, addiction, and suicide.
A study conducted by Just Facts earlier this year concluded that stress from lockdown orders could destroy seven times more years of life than lockdowns will save.
