Despite strict lockdown policies paraded as a model for other nations by political and social elites, Europe’s COVID-19 numbers are steadily increasing. Over the last seven days, the WHO reported that Europe has 709,968 new coronavirus cases, adding to the 7,039,257 people who are infected in total.
“As a region, Europe is now reporting more cases than India, Brazil, or the United States,” Reuters says.
In countries with strict lockdown measures such as France, cases rose by 25 percent in the last 14 days, topping the “record 18,000 threshold.” Spain mandated drastic lockdown measures, some of which prevented children under 14 from playing outside for more than an hour, yet it maintains similar case numbers to France.
The United Kingdom, whose government ordered a full stay at home order for seven weeks, has a “record levels” of infections “with over 17,000 new cases reported on Thursday.”
Countries such as Belgium, Norway, Finland, Italy, Russia, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, and almost every European nation have all seen increasing COVID-19 case numbers in the last 14 days, with some such as Germany reporting “its biggest daily increase in new cases since April on Thursday.”
While many of the leaders of these nations claimed their lockdowns would help slow or even stop the virus, when compared to other countries experiencing a spike in cases like Sweden who did not mandate a lockdown in the spring, these nations are no better off.
Land of the mask-free:
Doctors warned in April that #Sweden's refusal to #lockdown the country would have let to catastrophe…
"What we did differently in Sweden, was that we did not close schools," says @SwedishPM.
Europe's CDC deaths data: https://t.co/Chy7zHaKsQ pic.twitter.com/6geLCkM2Uw
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) October 11, 2020
https://twitter.com/AlexBerenson/status/1315071096769699840?s=20
Despite the countless claims by WHO (which has now reversed itself on lockdowns); political authorities such as prime ministers in Europe; multiple politicians and governors in America such as Gavin Newsom and Andrew Cuomo; celebrities such as Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, and LeBron James; billionaires such as Bill Gates and Bill Ackman; and more that lockdowns would protect people and prevent the spread of the virus, they appear to have done more harm than good.
Not only did these global lockdowns cost millions of people their jobs, put children out of school, force businesses to close, and keep people from worshipping together, they simply did not work like they were promised to.
While deaths and hospitalizations appear to be staying lower than at the beginning of the shutdowns, some nations’ leaders are still hinting at or have even begun implementing another round of lockdowns, even though the last left hundreds of thousands of people in Europe not only infected with the virus but also struggling economically.
Spain recently announced a mandated quarantine in the nation’s capital, Madrid. France also announced that it would be shutting down bars in Paris for at least two weeks in an effort to limit the transmission of the virus. Other countries are beginning to look into more lockdowns as well.
WHO recently reversed its decision on lockdowns, claiming that they are detrimental to the economy and contribute to starvation-level global poverty.
“We really do appeal to all world leaders: stop using lockdown as your primary control method,” WHO Special Envoy on Covid-19 Dr. David Nabarro said.
In addition to contributing to the growing global poverty, data from the Centers for Disease Control suggests that lockdowns also have a profound effect on people’s mental health. According to the study conducted in August, one in four young adults aged 18-24 reported seriously contemplating suicide within the last 30 days.
Some of the world’s leading epidemiologists also warned against these lockdowns, instead advocating for “focused protection” on those who are most vulnerable so that school, work, and life may continue as normal and allowing for the buildup of “herd immunity” for those who at low risk of dying, which is practically everyone.
