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Why COVID Mandates and Lockdowns Don’t Work
Hopkins study shows us the results of government interventions
We as a country and as a species have been through so much since COVID-19 was first discovered and the mandates and lockdowns began dating back to March 2020. The Johns Hopkins University recently studied all the reports around the world of the effect of government interventions to address the spread of and deaths from the coronavirus. This included shutdowns, shelter in place, masks and any other intervention that was a response to the spread of COVID-19.
They concluded that lockdowns and other government mandates did not have a ‘noticeable’ effect on deaths from COVID-19.
Going back to the beginning, many scientists advised that lockdowns would not work. Even Fauci suggested that in the beginning stating that it was simply too late to take that kind of action, as the virus had been circulating in this country for months.
In order for lockdowns to be effective, it is necessary to know where it is, where it started, who has it, and isolate those people or communities. But, by the first lockdowns here, scientists report that the coronavirus had been circulating for several months in the US, and there was no way to trace it. When the President shut off travel to China the virus had already been here for months. It was estimated that six million people per month had traveled between here and China for three months, and at that time those people were circulating throughout the US.
Further, travel restrictions to Europe began much later, but not before millions of people had already traveled between the US and Europe, particularly Italy, which experienced the most severe outbreaks and deaths. In both cases, the virus was circulating throughout the US.
The effectiveness of lockdowns depends on catching the spread early, which was not the case. That’s one big reason that lockdowns and other mandates didn’t work.
When you shut down businesses and events, what many people do is go home and socialize with their families, friends and neighbors. I witnessed this behavior over and over. In fact, people who were forced to stay home came in contact with more people than if they had not been locked down at all.
I still think it’s amusing how people following the masks mandates during the day, go out to other places and socialize with random people with no masks or distancing. The same people who wear a mask by day, ditch the mask at night.
Scientists who suggest lockdowns and mandates would, and will, have a significant effect, are all correct, but the idea of true isolation ignores what actual people are going to do. In other words, this probably works on paper, but not in reality.
The evidence is everywhere, every day, COVID or not. Humans do things that are inherently dangerous all the time. Tens of thousands of deaths from auto accidents don’t stop people from driving. We could save something like 35,000 lives per year by just locking down cars. People will not accept that. Try to force people to eat a healthy diet. Good luck! There are still 20 million smokers in the US and more that vape. Maybe there should be an exercise mandate. You have to exercise at least three hours a week.
While all of these things would save lives, they ignore, or fail to understand the natural needs of people, and the risks they are willing to accept, not only for themselves, but for their families, friends and coworkers.
I recently watched the Mayo Clinic podcast by Dr. Gregory Poland. He is right about everything except that he continually criticizes people for non-compliance – essentially people being people. Listen close and you can hear the subtext of his presentation, ‘If it wasn’t for those damn people, we could get COVID under control.’ His advice is right on point, if we lived in a bubble. But, we don’t.
We were late reacting to COVID which made lockdowns and other interventions fruitless. Hopkins’ report uses the word ‘noticeable’. Not even a noticeable impact from mandates and lockdowns. It was simply too late for that to work.
People are people and accept all kinds of risks every day. In the US people weren’t and aren’t going to be held down by a mandate or shutdown. Look at all the celebrities and politicians who hammer on mask mandates and then are caught on video socializing with no mask. The result is that even mask wearing can only be shown to have a marginal impact.
These are the two biggest reasons mandates and lockdowns don’t work. They may work in a different type of situation, but not in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic we have experienced.
What does work is people being responsible. When people have a good idea of what will cause them to get sick or die, most people take the action they think is the best for them. It may not be what Dr. Poland advises, but it is what they feel is best for them. Rarely do people do nothing. That will be the future of dealing with COVID and other viruses and pandemics.
