{"id":17354,"date":"2020-06-20T08:17:03","date_gmt":"2020-06-20T12:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=17354"},"modified":"2020-06-20T08:19:04","modified_gmt":"2020-06-20T12:19:04","slug":"swiss-research-report-facts-about-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=17354","title":{"rendered":"SWISS RESEARCH REPORT: Facts about COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"

Facts about Covid-19<\/a><\/h1>\n
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Updated<\/strong>:\u00a0June 2020<\/a>;\u00a0Share on<\/strong>:\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Facebook<\/a>
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Fully referenced facts about Covid-19, provided by experts in the field, to help our readers make a realistic risk assessment. (Regular updates below)
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\u201cThe only means to fight the plague is honesty.\u201d (<\/strong>Albert Camus, 1947)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Overview<\/h3>\n
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  1. According to the latest immunological and serological studies, the overall lethality of Covid-19 (IFR) is\u00a0about 0.1%<\/a>\u00a0and thus in the range of a strong seasonal\u00a0influenza<\/a>\u00a0(flu).<\/li>\n
  2. In countries like the US, the UK, and also Sweden (without a lockdown), overall mortality since the beginning of the year\u00a0is in the range of<\/a>\u00a0a strong influenza season; in countries like Germany, Austria and Switzerland, overall mortality is in the range of a mild influenza season.<\/li>\n
  3. Even in global \u201chotspots\u201d, the risk of death for the general population of school and working age is typically in the range of\u00a0a daily car ride to work<\/a>. The risk was initially overestimated because many people with only mild or no symptoms were not taken into account.<\/li>\n
  4. Up to 80% of all test-positive persons\u00a0remain symptom-free<\/a>. Even among 70-79 year olds,\u00a0about 60%<\/a>\u00a0remain symptom-free. Over 95% of all persons develop at most\u00a0moderate symptoms<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  5. Up to 60% of all persons may already have a certain cellular\u00a0background immunity<\/a>\u00a0to Covid19 due to contact with previous coronaviruses (i.e. common cold viruses).<\/li>\n
  6. The median or average\u00a0age of the deceased<\/a>\u00a0in most countries (including Italy) is over 80 years and\u00a0only about 4%<\/a>\u00a0of the deceased had no serious preconditions. The age and risk profile of deaths thus essentially corresponds to\u00a0normal mortality<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  7. In many countries, up to two thirds of all extra deaths occurred\u00a0in nursing homes<\/a>, which do not benefit from a general lockdown. Moreover, in many cases it is\u00a0not clear<\/a>\u00a0whether these people really died from Covid19 or from weeks of\u00a0extreme stress and isolation<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  8. Up to 30% of all additional deaths may have been caused\u00a0not by Covid19<\/a>, but by the effects of the\u00a0lockdown, panic and fear<\/a>. For example, the treatment of heart attacks and strokes\u00a0decreased<\/a>\u00a0by up to 60% because many patients no longer dared to go to hospital.<\/li>\n
  9. Even in so-called \u201cCovid19 deaths\u201d it is often\u00a0not clear<\/a>\u00a0whether they died\u00a0from<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0with<\/em>\u00a0coronavirus (i.e. from underlying diseases) or if they were counted as\u00a0\u201cpresumed cases\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and not tested at all. However, official figures usually\u00a0do not reflect<\/a>\u00a0this distinction.<\/li>\n
  10. Many media reports of young and healthy people dying from Covid19 turned out to be false: many of these young people either\u00a0did not die<\/a>\u00a0from Covid19, they had already been\u00a0seriously ill<\/a>\u00a0(e.g. from undiagnosed leukaemia), or they were in fact\u00a0109 instead of 9<\/a>\u00a0years old. The claimed increase in Kawasaki disease in children also turned out\u00a0to be false<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  11. Strong increases in regional mortality can occur if there is a\u00a0collapse in the care of the elderly and sick<\/a>\u00a0as a result of infection or panic, or if there are additional risk factors such as\u00a0severe air pollution<\/a>. Questionable\u00a0regulations<\/a>\u00a0for dealing with the deceased sometimes led to\u00a0additional bottlenecks<\/a>\u00a0in funeral or cremation services.<\/li>\n
  12. In countries such as Italy and Spain, and to some extent the UK and the US, hospital overloads due to strong flu waves\u00a0are not unusual<\/a>. Moreover, this year up to 15% of health care workers were\u00a0put into quarantine<\/a>, even if they developed no symptoms.<\/li>\n
  13. The often shown exponential curves of \u201ccorona cases\u201d are\u00a0misleading<\/a>, as the number of tests also increased exponentially. In most countries, the ratio of positive tests to tests overall (i.e. the positive rate) remained\u00a0constant at 5% to 25%<\/a>\u00a0or increased only slightly. In many countries, the peak of the spread was already reached well\u00a0before the lockdown<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  14. Countries\u00a0without<\/em>\u00a0curfews and contact bans, such as\u00a0Japan<\/a>,\u00a0South Korea<\/a>,\u00a0Belarus<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Sweden<\/a>, have\u00a0not experienced<\/a>\u00a0a more negative course of events than other countries. Sweden was even\u00a0praised<\/a>\u00a0by the WHO and now benefits from higher immunity compared to lockdown countries.<\/li>\n
  15. The fear of a shortage of ventilators was\u00a0unjustified<\/a>. According to lung specialists, the invasive ventilation (intubation) of Covid19 patients, which is partly done\u00a0out of fear<\/a>\u00a0of spreading the virus, is in fact often\u00a0counterproductive<\/a>\u00a0and damaging to the lungs.<\/li>\n
  16. Contrary to original assumptions, various studies\u00a0have shown<\/a>\u00a0that there is\u00a0no evidence<\/a>\u00a0of the virus spreading through aerosols (i.e. tiny particles\u00a0floating<\/em>\u00a0in the air) or through smear\u00a0infections<\/a>\u00a0(e.g. on door handles or smartphones). The main modes of transmission are\u00a0direct<\/em>\u00a0contact and\u00a0droplets<\/em>\u00a0produced when coughing or sneezing.<\/li>\n
  17. There is also\u00a0no scientific evidence<\/a>\u00a0for the effectiveness of face masks in\u00a0healthy<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0asymptomatic<\/em>\u00a0individuals. On the contrary, experts warn that such masks interfere with normal breathing and may become\u00a0\u201cgerm carriers\u201d<\/a>. Leading doctors called them a \u201cmedia hype\u201d and\u00a0\u201cridiculous\u201d<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  18. Many clinics in Europe and the US remained\u00a0strongly underutilized<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0almost empty<\/a>\u00a0during the Covid19 peak and in some cases had to\u00a0send staff home<\/a>. Millions of surgeries and therapies were\u00a0cancelled<\/a>, including many cancer screenings and organ transplants.<\/li>\n
  19. Several media were caught\u00a0trying to dramatize<\/a>\u00a0the situation in hospitals, sometimes even with\u00a0manipulative<\/a>\u00a0images and videos. In general, the\u00a0unprofessional reporting<\/a>\u00a0of many media maximized fear and panic in the population.<\/li>\n
  20. The virus test kits used internationally are\u00a0prone to errors<\/a>\u00a0and can produce false positive and false negative results. Moreover, the official virus test was\u00a0not clinically validated<\/a>\u00a0due to time pressure and may sometimes react positive to other coronaviruses.<\/li>\n
  21. Numerous\u00a0internationally renowned experts<\/a>\u00a0in the fields of virology, immunology and epidemiology consider the measures taken to be\u00a0counterproductive<\/a>\u00a0and recommend rapid\u00a0natural immunisation<\/a>\u00a0of the general population and protection of risk groups.<\/li>\n
  22. At no time was there\u00a0a medical reason<\/a>\u00a0for the closure of schools, as the risk of disease and transmission in children is\u00a0extremely low<\/a>. There is also\u00a0no medical reason<\/a>\u00a0for small classes, masks or \u2018social distancing\u2019 rules in schools.<\/li>\n
  23. The claim that only (severe) Covid-19 but not influenza may cause venous thrombosis and pulmonary (lung) embolism is not true, as it has been known\u00a0for 50 years<\/a>\u00a0that severe influenza\u00a0greatly increases the risk<\/a>\u00a0of thrombosis and embolism, too.<\/li>\n
  24. Several medical experts\u00a0described<\/a>\u00a0express coronavirus vaccines as\u00a0unnecessary<\/a>\u00a0or even\u00a0dangerous<\/a>. Indeed, the vaccine against the\u00a0so-called swine flu<\/a>\u00a0of 2009, for example, led to sometimes\u00a0severe neurological damage<\/a>\u00a0and lawsuits in the millions. In the testing of new coronavirus vaccines, too, serious\u00a0complications<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0failures<\/a>\u00a0have already occurred.<\/li>\n
  25. A global influenza or corona pandemic can indeed extend over\u00a0several seasons<\/a>, but many studies of a \u201csecond wave\u201d are based on\u00a0very unrealistic assumptions<\/a>, such as a constant risk of illness and death across all age groups.<\/li>\n
  26. Several nurses, e.g. in New York City, described an oftentimes\u00a0fatal medical mis\u00admanage\u00adment\u00a0<\/a>of Covid patients due to questionable\u00a0financial incentives<\/a>\u00a0or inappropriate medical protocols.<\/li>\n
  27. The number of people suffering from unemployment,\u00a0depressions<\/a>\u00a0and domestic violence as a result of the measures has reached\u00a0historic record values<\/a>. Several experts predict that the measures will claim\u00a0far more lives<\/a>\u00a0than the virus itself. According to the UN\u00a01.6 billion people<\/a>\u00a0around the world are at immediate risk of losing their livelihood.<\/li>\n
  28. NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden warned that the \u201ccorona crisis\u201d will be used for the\u00a0permanent expansion<\/a>\u00a0of global surveillance. Renowned virologist Pablo Goldschmidt\u00a0spoke of<\/a>\u00a0a \u201cglobal media terror\u201d and \u201ctotalitarian measures\u201d. Leading British virologist Professor John Oxford\u00a0spoke of<\/a>\u00a0a \u201cmedia epidemic\u201d.<\/li>\n
  29. More than 600 scientists\u00a0have warned of<\/a>\u00a0an \u201cunprecedented surveillance of society\u201d through problematic apps for \u201ccontact tracing\u201d. In some countries, such \u201ccontact tracing\u201d is already carried out directly\u00a0by the secret service<\/a>. In several parts of the world, the population is already being\u00a0monitored by drones<\/a>\u00a0and facing serious police overreach.<\/li>\n
  30. A 2019 WHO study on public health measures against pandemic influenza found that from a medical perspective, \u201ccontact tracing\u201d is\u00a0\u201cnot recommended in any circumstances\u201d<\/a>. Nevertheless, contact tracing apps have already\u00a0become<\/a>\u00a0partially mandatory in\u00a0several countries<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    See also<\/strong>:<\/p>\n