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.”
Will the lifting of restrictions go well? Who knows (as even the DK gov agrees). New variants may emerge & restrictions reappear. Yet, from a behavioral perspective, I am optimistic about the future. Even with a 3rd wave, mutual trust should be high enough to pull thru. (13/14)
— Michael Bang Petersen (@M_B_Petersen) September 10, 2021
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.
Cases are down 60 percent after Denmark lifted all COVID restrictions on September 3.
Just sayin. pic.twitter.com/gVVlnfg6NQ
— Jon Miltimore (@miltimore79) September 23, 2021
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.
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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.
This is one of the many reasons you should be opposed to mask mandates.
I’m pro-face and humanity; I’m anti-mandates and cruelty. pic.twitter.com/rVzmzfqmjG
— Aaron Ginn (@aginnt) September 17, 2021
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.
Jon Miltimore
Jonathan Miltimore is the Managing Editor of FEE.org. His writing/reporting has been the subject of articles in TIME magazine, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Forbes, Fox News, and the Star Tribune.
Bylines: Newsweek, The Washington Times, MSN.com, The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, the Epoch Times.
This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.
Photo by form PxHere.
Will America-First News Outlets Make it to 2023?
Things are looking grim for conservative and populist news sites.
There’s something happening behind the scenes at several popular conservative news outlets. 2021 was bad, but 2022 is proving to be disastrous for news sites that aren’t “playing ball” with the corporate media narrative. It’s being said that advertisers are cracking down, forcing some of the biggest ad networks like Google and Yahoo to pull their inventory from conservative outlets. This has had two major effects. First, it has cooled most conservative outlets from discussing “taboo” topics like Pandemic Panic Theater, voter fraud, or The Great Reset. Second, it has isolated those ad networks that aren’t playing ball.
Certain topics are anathema for most ad networks. Speaking out against vaccines or vaccine mandates is a certain path to being demonetized. Highlighting voter fraud in the 2020 and future elections is another instant advertising death penalty. Throw in truthful stories about climate change hysteria, Critical Race Theory, and the border crisis and it’s easy to understand how difficult it is for America-First news outlets to spread the facts, share conservative opinions, and still pay the bills.
Without naming names, I have been told of several news outlets who have been forced to either consolidate with larger organizations or who have backed down on covering certain topics out of fear of being “canceled” by the ad networks. I get it. This is a business for many of us and it’s not very profitable. Those of us who do this for a living are often barely squeaking by, so loss of additional revenue can often mean being forced to make cuts. That means not being able to cover the topics properly. Its a Catch-22: Tell the truth and lose the money necessary to keep telling the truth, or avoid the truth and make enough money to survive. Those who have chosen survival simply aren’t able to spread the truth properly.
We will never avoid the truth. The Lord will provide if it is His will. Our job is simply to share the facts, spread the Gospel, and educate as many Americans as possible while exposing the forces of evil.
To those who have the means, we ask that you please donate. We have options available now, but there is no telling when those options will cancel us. We have our GivingFuel page. There have been many who have been canceled by PayPal, but for now it’s still an option. Your generosity is what keeps these sites running and allows us to get the truth to the masses. We’ve had great success in growing but we know we can do more with your assistance.
Thank you, and God Bless!
JD Rucker
Covid variant BA.5 is spreading. It appears milder but much more contagious and evades natural immunity. Best to boost your immune system with new Z-Dtox and Z-Stack nutraceuticals from our dear friend, the late Dr. Vladimir Zelenko.
