Letter to the editor: 'Conventional wisdom' on covid-19

Often when a person disagrees with the “conventional wisdom” behind popular movements, he is deemed ignorant of the “science” involved.

In my opinion, most conventional wisdom is highly questionable, if not pure fantasy. For example, climate change theorists who teach young girls like Greta Thunberg that the world will end are not scientists; they are child abusers and ought to be in jail.

And it is laughable when scientists tell us they are saving the planet by requiring us to use 1.5 gallon/flush toilets that take two or three flushes to clean. Or the EPA genius-designed gas can spouts that defy filling your lawn mower without spilling gas all over your driveway.

And now we have covid-19. The conventional wisdom predicted it would be fatal to 5% to 8% of those who got it, but the CDC now states the mortality rate is 0.4%, about 10 times less than the original estimates of 3.4%, and much closer to the rate for regular flu, which is 0.2%.

Dr. Scott Atlas of the Hoover Institution collected covid-19 statistics from New York City which show that of the 6,570 covid-19 deaths as of April 22, zero were under age 18 and only .01% of infectees ages 18-45 died. For those over age 75, the death rate was 80 times higher. And an astounding 99.2% of all the deaths were in patients who had underlying illnesses.

The statistics prove to me that once again, conventional wisdom deserves a very high level of skepticism. People are right to protest the lockdowns.

Bob Jacobs

Unity