The data are in and the conclusion is inescapable: the covid shutdowns imposed by governments around the world were the worst public health disaster of modern times. This story is in the Telegraph, but the study it refers to is global: “Lockdown benefits ‘a drop in the bucket compared to the costs’, landmark study finds.”

Scientists from Johns Hopkins University and Lund University examined almost 20,000 studies on measures taken to protect populations against Covid across the world.
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The report authors said their findings showed that the draconian measures had a “negligible impact” on Covid mortality and were a “policy failure of gigantic proportions”.
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The study’s authors conclude: “The science of lockdowns is clear; the data are in: the deaths saved were a drop in the bucket compared to the staggering collateral costs imposed.”

The detrimental impact of lockdown on children’s health and education, on economic growth and its contribution to large increases in public debt has become increasingly clear since the policy was introduced.

That conclusion now represents a consensus, but I wonder whether the “public health community” and the world’s politicians are listening. Both enjoyed and, I think, profited from their moment of unfettered power. My guess is that next time a respiratory virus comes along comes along, the fascist impulse will once again rear its ugly head.