Daniel Horowitz, a writer for TheBlaze.com, penned a column earlier this month arguing against the “panicked headlines” emerging from colleges reopening across the U.S. amid the virus pandemic. He pointed to the University of Alabama as an example of the fear-mongering-gone-wild in the media.
As we have been reporting in the Trends Journal, data proves COVID is rarely dangerous for the young people it infects. Horowitz noted the university reported 1,368 positive case cases since the start of the school year, which, on its own, may seem like a staggering number. What has not been reported, however, is that not one student ended up in the hospital due to virus symptoms.
Horowitz pointed out that a New York Times article noted 90 percent of positive cases have either too low a virus load to transmit infections or the virus is already considered to be dead in its host.
He wrote what the country is likely experiencing is a “casedemic,” which he defined as an epidemic “that can only be identified by mass testing” because of the relatively low amount of deaths and hospitalizations.
Horowitz’s report cited Dr. Ricky Friend, Dean of the University of Alabama’s College of Community Health Sciences, who said there is no evidence of “virus transmission due to in-person class instruction.”
Horowitz pointed out the mental toll that some of these restrictions have inflected can have a detrimental effect on college-aged students. The CDC said 62.9 percent of these students have suffered from some kind of anxiety or depression.
Fear Sells
Allegations of the media selling a “casedemic” is not unique to the U.S.
Citizens in Ireland have lashed out at lockdowns due to the “spike in infections.” Alanna Lavery, who recently spoke at a protest Northern Ireland, said, “Each media outlet seems to have the same script. When they bombard us with daily new cases, I would love them to provide us with figures of those who are isolating at home with no symptoms or mild symptoms, how many are in hospital care and how many are in ICU?”
TRENDPOST: Ms. Lavery is echoing what we have said since the start of the draconian lockdown orders and Judge Andrew Napolitano emphasized at our “Unite for Peace and Restore Freedom” 4th of July Rally: Health officials are dictating the terms to elected officials who rule without any oversight by state or local legislators. And, the lockdowns are based on the number of cases and not hospitalizations or those in need of medical intervention.
