A former New York Times reporter is challenging the mainstream coronavirus narrative, arguing that the prevailing response strategy is based on flawed models.
Alex Berenson, who worked for the Times from 1999 to 2020, primarily covering the pharmaceutical industry, has analyzed COVID-19 data for weeks and determined that forcing the economy to a standstill is not merited given the virus’ realities.
“The response we have taken has caused enormous societal devastation, I don’t think that’s too strong a word,” he told Fox News in an interview.
Berenson tweeted this week that many parts of the country have failed to experience the projected saturation of the healthcare system.
Yes. But. In February I was worried about the virus. By mid-March I was more scared about the economy. But now I’m starting to get genuinely nervous. This isn’t complicated. The models don’t work. The hospitals are empty. WHY ARE WE STILL TALKING ABOUT INDEFINITE LOCKDOWNS? https://t.co/ab4dI8aS6Z
— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) April 9, 2020
Berenson first challenged a model by the imperial College in London after one of the model’s authors appeared to walk back projections saying 500,000 Britons would die from the disease, revising his figure to about 20,000.
“That was March 22 or 23, and ever since then I’ve been paying incredibly close attention to the modeling and trying to figure out whether it lines up with what we’re seeing in reality — and the answer is it hasn’t lined up at all,” Berenson said.
The former Times reporter has also pointed out discrepancies within the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) model, which has had its metrics revised multiple times.
At one point, the IHME model predicted over 90,000 U.S. deaths by August, but recently issued a new estimate closer to 60,000.
Proponents of the current quarantine strategy say the models have changed because government policies are working.
“We believe that our health care delivery system in the United States is quite extraordinary,” said Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. “I know many of you are watching the Act Now model and the IHME model — and they have consistently decreased the number, the mortality from over almost 90,000 or 86,000, down to 81,000 and now down to 61,000. That is modeled on what America is doing. That’s what’s happening.”
And Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, “Because remember, what you do with data will always outstrip a model. You redo your models, depending upon your data, and our data is telling us that mitigation is working.”
But Berenson counters that the original flawed models already had social distancing and isolation measures calculated into them. Outside of New York, the anticipated health crisis has not materialized.
“Aside from New York, nationally there’s been no health system crisis. In fact, to be truly correct there has been a health system crisis, but the crisis is that the hospitals are empty,” he said. “This is true in Florida where the lockdown was late, this is true in South Carolina where the lockdown was early, it’s true in Oklahoma where there is no statewide lockdown. There doesn’t seem to be any correlation between the lockdown and whether or not the epidemic has spread wide and fast.”
Berenson has also noted that the decline in cases in many states occurred before the time at which lockdowns would have had an impact, as the window between coronavirus infection and symptoms means it takes a few weeks for social-distancing measures to take effect.
1/ Let’s talk more about the magic of “social distancing”: yesterday the Ohio governor said it had reduced the state’s projected peak daily cases from 62,000 to 1,600. Awesome! But let’s take a closer look, shall we? pic.twitter.com/9xZRmkO7gF
— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) April 9, 2020
2/ The state’s “unmitigated” model “projects” that without mitigation, the peak of 62,000 will occur (will HAVE OCCURED, to be more accurate) on March 22… pic.twitter.com/7kqrNbRuBP
— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) April 9, 2020
3/ Only Ohio didn’t *actually* issue a lockdown order until Monday, March 23. Yes, lockdowns are such magic that they can PREVENT (theoretical) peaks that occurred before they were issued… pic.twitter.com/H9JfRpCZ0q
— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) April 9, 2020
Berenson does not advocate zero action on the virus, but rather a more measured approach.
“There was incredible pressure to do something … so these lockdowns all cascaded, every governor tried to outdo the next. And no one stopped and said ‘OK what about Japan, they don’t seem to have a terrible epidemic, they wear masks, maybe we should wear masks,” he said.
Berenson isn’t the only one calling out the mainstream narrative.
Scott Jensen, a Minnesota state senator and doctor, discussed how the state’s health department has suggested to healthcare professionals that they attribute deaths to COVID-19 even without a confirmed diagnosis.
Birx herself has admitted that the federal government is classifying all deaths of patients infected with the virus as COVID-19 deaths regardless of what other conditions contributed.
“The intent is … if someone dies with COVID-19 we are counting that,” she said.
Dr. Knut Wittkowski, the former long-time head of the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design at the Rockefeller University in New York City, has argued that the current widespread shelter-in-place policies actually reduce the chances of eradicating the virus because it makes it harder for society to build herd immunity.
On whether we should continue to focus on “flattening the curve,” Wittowski said, “I don’t really know why. But, what happens is if you flatten the curve, you also prolong, to widen it, and it takes more time. And I don’t see a good reason for a respiratory disease to stay in the population longer than necessary.”
Image: Gwengoat/iStock/Getty Images Plus
Luis Miguel is a marketer and writer whose journalistic endeavors shed light on the Deep State, the immigration crisis, and the enemies of freedom. Follow his exploits on Facebook, Twitter, Bitchute, and at luisantoniomiguel.com.
