Since January, citizens around the world have been subjected to fear-inducing headlines about COVID-19, the beginning of its spread outside China:
“New coronavirus may be much more contagious than initially thought”
– New Scientist, 27 January
“The COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease May Be Twice As Contagious
As We Thought” – Forbes, 7 April
“Coronavirus may still be spreading uncontrolled in 24 states”
– Wall Street Journal, 23 May
Yet, as has been reported in the Trends Journal since the beginning, the actual empirical data and carefully studied scientific evidence all point to one hard fact: COVID-19, while a dangerous, novel virus to some, has produced far fewer deaths than previously predicted.
For example, the wildly reported forecast on 16 March by the Imperial College London estimated that two million Americans would die from the virus.
With some 100,000 virus-related deaths reported to date in the United States, the Imperial College wizards were only 1,900,000 off their mark.
As we have been noting with hard facts, around the world, some 50 percent of COVID-19 deaths have been among elderly (average age 80 years old in Italy), those in nursing homes already suffering from chronic illnesses, while most of the other 50 percent were those suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, heart conditions, respiratory ailments, etc.
Also, as we have been noting for months, in the Associated Press reporting of the virus, they often state: “For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or modest symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe life-threatening illness, including pneumonia and death.”
To Touch or Not to Touch?
And now, with much of the world wearing rubber gloves to help protect oneself from getting the virus, last Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed COVID-19 does not spread in as frightening a way as presented by political leaders and magnified by the mainstream media.
In an about face, after warning that people can become infected by touching surfaces and physical items that have the virus on them, the CDC now claims the virus “does not spread easily” by touching surfaces such as door handles and mail order boxes.
When it comes to touching surfaces and objects, the CDC now states,
“COVID-19 is a new disease and we are still learning about how it spreads. It may be possible for COVID-19 to spread in other ways, but these are not thought to be the main ways the virus spreads.”
Commenting on the new CDC guidelines, Dr. John Whyte, Chief Medical Officer for WebMD writes,
“Many people were concerned that by simply touching an object they may get coronavirus, and that’s simply not the case. Even when a virus may stay on a surface, it doesn’t mean that it’s actually infectious.”
Dr. Whyte added this new information “allow[s] us to be practical and realistic as we try to return to a sense of normalcy.”
“It’s a Mess Out There”
According to new reports published last Thursday, there are at least seven states that likely have distorted their data on the spread of COVID-19, showing it to be more dangerous than it actually is.
Four of those states – Texas, Georgia, Virginia, and Vermont – mistakenly combined two different tests. One is the swab test, which determines if a person has the virus; the other is the antibody blood test, which measures whether a person had been exposed to COVID-19 but is now healthy.
The same day, another report came out showing that three states – Florida, Pennsylvania, and Maine – also combined the results of the two tests. In these instances, the states were following guidelines set by the CDC that were in error.
This botched data collection gives a false impression of how much testing actually has been done. By combining the two tests, instead of reporting them separately, it gives the impression states have done more testing than they actually did. The Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, Ashish Jha, points out that by mixing the tests, which are done for different reasons, “It will drive down your positive rate in a very positive way.”
As reported numerous instances in the Trends Journal, significantly more people have contracted the virus than known because so many who get it have no symptoms or have symptoms so mild, they don’t report to a doctor or hospital. This means many more have contracted COVID-19 than has been reported. Therefore, the rate of people dying from the virus is much lower than publicized.
Yet, this fact is being ignored. And, when the mainstream media and politicians suggest the infection rate may in fact be higher, they ramp up the fear game, while discounting the low death rate.
According to a new report from the University of Minnesota, in addition to mixing up tests, on a national scale, overall testing for COVID-19 is disorganized and unreliable. Mike Osterholm, who heads the university’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, stated, “It’s a mess out there. Testing is very, very important, but we’re not doing the right testing.”