Posted on 09/24/2021 3:31:52 PM PDT by george76
So far, the results of Denmark’s decision to lift all restrictions are promising—and then some..
On September 3 Denmark lifted all of its COVID restrictions, becoming the first country in the European Union to do so.
At the time, Denmark had achieved a fully-vaccinated rate of 73 percent in adults, a figure well below targets set by US National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, but slightly higher than the European average.
Even though Denmark had achieved a 96 percent fully vaccinated rate in the key 50 and older demographic, there was still uncertainty surrounding Denmark’s decision to lift COVID restrictions.
“Will the lifting of restrictions go well? Who knows,” tweeted Michael Bang Petersen, a scientist who advised Denmark and led the country's largest behavioral COVID-19 project. “New variants may emerge & restrictions reappear. Yet, from a behavioral perspective, I am optimistic about the future.”
The Initial Results..
It’s been nearly three weeks since Denmark lifted restrictions, long enough to get the first glimpse of results from the Danish government’s decision. (Harvard researchers say the incubation period of the virus is two to 14 days, with symptoms typically appearing within four or five days of exposure.)
And so far, the results are promising—and then some.
On September 3, Denmark’s 3-day rolling average of cases was 739. On September 21, the 3-day rolling average was 288. In other words, Denmark didn’t see a surge in cases after lifting all restrictions. To the contrary, cases fell by 60 percent. Deaths also remain low. Meanwhile, CNN reports there has been no notable increase in hospitalizations.
The results are preliminary, to be sure. It’s quite possible that cases in Denmark will increase if new variants emerge or the Delta variant flares up again. But the results are also highly encouraging—and they buttress the arguments of those who’ve contended that many of the restrictions lawmakers have put in place throughout the pandemic have been ineffective at taming the virus but harmful to public health, learning, and the economy.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, for example, a professor at Stanford University Medical School, has called lockdowns the "biggest public health mistake we've ever made.”
“The harm to people is catastrophic,” said Bhattacharya.
Less invasive mitigations, such as mask mandates, come with less severe unintended consequences—including potential learning development issues and traumatic experiences for deaf people unable to communicate—but also appear equally ineffective in mitigating the spread of the virus.
Judging Policies by Results..
The Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman famously warned against the modern propensity to pass policies based on how they make us feel, not what they actually achieve.
One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results,” Friedman noted. “We all know a famous road that is paved with good intentions. The people who go around talking about their soft heart . . . I admire them for the softness of their heart, but unfortunately it very often extends to their head as well.”
Friedman wasn’t just having some fun at the expense of his ideological opponents. He was highlighting a very real problem—one that has been revealed time and again in the coronavirus pandemic.
Americans and their political leaders, like many around the world, believed they could vanquish, contain, or slow the coronavirus if they only centrally planned hard enough. Unlike previous pandemics, they unleashed the power of the state to that end—and failed miserably.
Some nations, such as Denmark, are finally coming to grips with this reality.
“Denmark today is free of COVID restrictions—though not COVID-19—because Danish leaders arrived at the prudent and sensible conclusion that Danes must live with the coronavirus, which cannot be defeated or extinguished through central planning,” I noted last week.
Let’s hope American leaders and nations recognize this truth and follow the path Denmark has forged.
Chuckle
Out of curiosity, does Denmark have 100k, or more, 3rd world savages pouring over their border every month?
They do have a problem with those who practice the “religion of peace”
Kind of sounds like Florida with its plunge in new cases.
90% vaccination or bust! Somebody remind our president* that Americans aren’t Danes.
Don’t tell Australia’s leaders.
They know everything.
The virus doesn’t care what we do. Vax or not Vax; lock down or open up. There are no strong correlations one way or the other. It’s pretty much random. The Danes might be onto something, or they’ve caught a temporary lucky-break.
Meanwhile...Australia is cracking skulls.
Wow, fascinating!
That is pretty much what Fauci said when he announced “15 days to flatten the curve.”
He told us that the virus would spread and nothing would stop its spread. That eventually we would reach herd immunity.
He told us that a 15 day lock down would slow the spread and prevent overwhelming emergency rooms and intensive care units.
Funny what a taste of power will do to a man.
We all do. But if I’m not mistaken that seems to be easing in some of those countries. Especially with regards to the folks from Afghanistan. It would appear that no one wants any of them anymore. Imagine that.
florida is now the free state maryland once was...
No, just a change of leash owner !
The initial statement was controlled by President Trump.
The later statements by the Biden but wiper.
In the end we will conclude that all of our power grabs, power jabs and lockdowns did not affect the outcome. We should have just let the critter burn through and exhaust itself.
Someone didn’t want it to “just burn through”
Denmark’s top soccer star collapsed with myocarditis at the European Championship earlier this year. Two weeks after getting Pfizer. Lucky to be alive.
Stop testing, stop finding cases.
“Let’s hope American leaders and nations recognize this truth and follow the path Denmark has forged.”
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Almost comical statement...like our “leaders” only want the best for our people and have no corrupt motive for keeping the fear alive.
Believe that, and let me offer you a great deal on this here bridge.
Why can’t more Americans have this sort of common sense! Just a few republicans.
100% what has prolonged our misery, is these lock-downs, distancing, masking up, all this crap. If we would have dealt with it, we would have been way over the hump, with few cases here and there. This thing is now with us, and we need to learn to live with it, not cower in fear and shut down whenever anything happens.
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