The latest figures from the German Robert Koch Institute show that the number of people who test positive per number of tests is not increasing exponentially and was only around 10% at the end of March.
Professor Klaus Püschel, who has been director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine at Hamburg University since 1992, says: "The astronomical economic damage now being caused is not commensurate with the danger posed by the virus. I am convinced that the Corona mortality rate will not even show up as a peak in annual mortality."
Professor Klaus Püschel, who has been director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine at Hamburg University since 1992, says: "The astronomical economic damage now being caused is not commensurate with the danger posed by the virus. I am convinced that the Corona mortality rate will not even show up as a peak in annual mortality."
He said that in Hamburg "not a single person who was not previously ill" had died of the virus".
Germany has handled the virus very capably. Mrs Merkel won't get any credit here, though.
ReplyDeleteProfessor Klaus Püschel said, "This virus influences our lives in a completely excessive way. This is disproportionate to the danger posed by the virus. And the astronomical economic damage now being caused is not commensurate with the danger posed by the virus. I am convinced that the Corona mortality rate will not even show up as a peak in annual mortality.“ His colleague at the University Medical Center Hamburg, Dr. Ansgar Lohse, argues that more people should be infected with corona, schools should be reopened as soon as possible so that children and their parents can become immune through infection with the corona virus.
DeleteThose two think Mrs Merkel overreacted and should not have closed down the economy.
Dr Henry Kissinger told the WSJ that the White House has done 'a solid job in avoiding immediate catastrophe,' but adds the government needs to beat the disease, not only to regain Americans' trust but the world's trust.
DeleteHe said,'When the Covid-19 pandemic is over, many countries’ institutions will be perceived as having failed. Whether this judgement is objectively fair is irrelevant. The reality is the world will never be the same after the coronavirus.'
He said,'When the Covid-19 pandemic is over, many countries’ institutions will be perceived as having failed.
DeleteI think Kissinger is right about that.
At the moment people are so scared that they're willing to rally behind their governments, like small children grasping Nanny's hand. In a few months' time when they look at the blackened burnt-out shell of what used to be the economy they're going to be pretty resentful.
I predict that western governments will respond with a massive crackdown on dissent. Anyone who questions the established narrative on COVID-19 will be treated the way global warming sceptics are treated already - as wicked "science deniers" who should be deplatformed, fired from their jobs and socially ostracised. And, quite possibly, prosecuted.
Western governments will try to silence anyone who tries to argue that they handled this crisis with a mixture of incompetence and blind panic.
Will this crackdown be successful? It depends on just how bad the economic damage proves to be.
We may see an upsurge in populism but it's likely to be a much nastier form of populism than anything we've seen in the West since 1945.
The US has the worst of both worlds -- shut down the economy, hospitals have struggled, and a lot of people have died, especially in my town of NYC. Ms Merkel has regrettably shut down the economy, but her low death toll is enviable. I'll have what she's having.
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