—TAKEAWAY LESSONS FROM PANDEMIC 2020-21: A THREAD—

Below, a few basic lessons I have drawn, as a political philosopher and informed citizen who has made it my business to closely follow political, social, economic, clinical, & epidemiological aspects of the pandemic:

1/ Most mainstream journalists cannot be relied upon to critically uncover, & impartially convey, the facts surrounding a complex & unfolding crisis. If you watch RTE, BBC, or CNN, you are fed naively one-sided stories laced with fear-mongering, misleading use of statistics, etc.
2/ If you wish to inform yourself about a public crisis like this pandemic, you must find commentators who have limited access to mainstream media, good credentials, & arguments that consider a wide range of available evidence. You need to be pro-active about diversifying sources
3/ Reliance by govts upon advisory committees with a clearly one-sided take on the pandemic (eg suppression at all cost) has led to catastrophic outcomes. Govts must diversify their scientific sources & encourage ROBUST scientific debate among their advisors.
4/ Hyper-centralised management of public health is ineffective. Decision-making power must be decentralised so that it can adapt quickly to local conditions. Care homes were badly hurt by top-down mandates that were sluggishly responsive to evolving conditions on the ground.
5/ The trust-based model of public health was ditched in 2020. Govts have turned to a “command & coerce” approach, unleashing widespread distrust & resentment toward public authorities. More coercive health policies have not been shown to be more effective than less coercive ones
6/ Locking down healthy populations has had catastrophic repercussions on health & well-being with very small returns if any as a method of disease control. We must NEVER repeat this reckless experiment ever again.

https://t.co/bzsdKI3kae
7/ Future public health crises must be handled with efficient, targeted policies driven by detailed risk assessment. We knew from March 2020 which populations were most & least at risk, but most govts foolishly chose to treat EVERY social interaction as a high risk scenario.
8/ Public fear has been fed daily by media & politicians focusing on remote possibilities rather than probable outcomes. Public officials & journalists need to inform the public with facts & evidence, not feed their fears with IDLE SPECULATION about potential disasters.
9/ Many Western nations are now prepared to jettison basic civil liberties like freedom of movement & patient consent in the pursuit of an unrealistic “zero Covid” utopia. Widespread civil disobedience & protests may be the only effective antidote to these totalitarian tendencies
10/ This pandemic has offered us a poignant illustration of the dangers of highly centralised States. In a highly decentralised State local & municipal authorities could push back against civil rights violations & destructive stay-at-home orders imposed by national govts.

More from Category c19

All you need to know about COVID19
FACTS NOT FEAR

Covid 19 is a disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. SARS-CoV-2 is one of 7 coronaviruses known to man. 1/n

The pandemic is real. Excess deaths were observed in many countries. Not all countries were affected in the same way due to pre-existing immunity, the health status of the population and demographics (the proportion of elderly in the population) 2/n
https://t.co/65elPq3gp5


COVID 19 presents a high risk for the very few and negligible risk for the many.

The infection fatality rate in different age groups:
<19 y, IFR= 0.003%
20-49 y: IFR= 0.02%
50-69 y: 0.5%
>70y, IFR=

Not everybody is susceptible to the virus. If reinfected, pre-existing immunity from related viruses gives protection from developing the disease or from developing serious symptoms.
4/n

“The evidence that a subset of people has a cross-reactive T cell repertoire through exposure to related coronaviruses is
@welt published an article today on the “panic paper”-scandal in Germany.

Title is "Maximum collaboration”, showing @BMI_Bund / Horst Seehofer had a secret paper drafted in the 1st COVID-19 wave that dramatically depicted the threat.

A scandal of gigantic proportions. Thread⬇️


2/: @welt released 2 versions: long version as print, short-edit, online.

This thread focuses on the long version. It's of crucial importance-people around the globe understand this earthshaking scandal. Share.

English:
https://t.co/qAbU6D8c0P

German: https://t.co/W2i1FtVrCg


3/: Mid-March 2020: Federal Minister of the Interior-Horst Seehofer (@BMI_Bund, @cducsubt) was on the edge: Christian Drosten (@c_drosten) & Lothar Wieler (@RKI) urgently warned: Germany was threatened w/ dramatic consequences if the country returned to everyday life too quickly.


4/: Horst Seehofer sent his Secretary of State Markus Kerber into the lane. The plan was to bring together leading scientists: they should produce a paper that would then serve as legitimation for further tough political measures, beyond Easter - now known as the “panic paper”.


5/: Markus Kerber launched a corresponding call to researchers via e-mail, 4 days later, the request was fulfilled: A classified paper, which presented the danger posed by the virus as dramatically as possible, and which quickly spread through the media.

You May Also Like

"I really want to break into Product Management"

make products.

"If only someone would tell me how I can get a startup to notice me."

Make Products.

"I guess it's impossible and I'll never break into the industry."

MAKE PRODUCTS.

Courtesy of @edbrisson's wonderful thread on breaking into comics –
https://t.co/TgNblNSCBj – here is why the same applies to Product Management, too.


There is no better way of learning the craft of product, or proving your potential to employers, than just doing it.

You do not need anybody's permission. We don't have diplomas, nor doctorates. We can barely agree on a single standard of what a Product Manager is supposed to do.

But – there is at least one blindingly obvious industry consensus – a Product Manager makes Products.

And they don't need to be kept at the exact right temperature, given endless resource, or carefully protected in order to do this.

They find their own way.