We no longer should fear COVID-19, but rather face fears of a crashing economy

To the Editor:

Those of us living in areas with extremely low COVID-19 cases continue to live under mandatory quarantine. If it does not lift soon, it is time for citizens to vocally but peacefully protest, for businesses to open, for us to claim our First Amendment rights for assembly, and additionally the freedom of contract according to the 14th Amendment of the Constitution (government shall not unreasonably regulate the establishment of contracts between individuals and businesses). Call your state representative now and demand that Governor Murphy open the state for business. At first the shutdown was reasonable, but now is unreasonable to extend any further.

Why is this shutdown now unreasonable? We eagerly complied and launched numerous campaigns for masks and supplies, for we were told millions would die if we did nothing. At first, this was reasonable, as we knew very little about COVID-19 due to lack of Chinese government transparency and the corrupt World Health Organization. But now there is plenty of data available to any curious person who understands basic arithmetic. Compilation of the numbers is underway by statisticians, doctors, curious citizens, epidemiologists, and others. Models were quickly adjusted downward from first predicting a million deaths in the United States to the present tens of thousands. Firsthand leaks from hospitals tell that nearly all deaths are labeled COVID-related, which further bloats “confirmed” cases of death by COVID-19. Test protocols are plagued by false negatives and positives. Emergency rooms and intensive care units, even in heavily congested areas, continue operation with plenty of beds. When one looks closely, the death rate is indeed comparable to recent flu seasons when the above is taken into account. And measurable death rates based on actual infection decreased by a factor of 10 upon recent antibody testing in New York and California.

Therefore, armed with this new knowledge, what will the government do to reverse initial restrictions? Why is rural Illinois, New York, or New Jersey shut down, where there is minimal risk? Why are young people, who could easily avoid contact with senior citizens for a few months, still at home and not working? Mayor DeBlasio had the idea of ratting out neighbors that don’t “comply." Then there is the 1984-ish idea about vaccination proof on our phones and phone-to-phone distance tracking for traceability. It stinks of fascism. Such protocols are too expensive for our bloated governments to implement and not warranted in light of low casualties of this nasty bug. Talk of these proposals should alarm all citizens, conservative or liberal, agnostic or religious, and all in between.

The data is in. We no longer should fear COVID-19, but rather face tenable fears of a crashing economy, negative oil prices, stressed families, and politicians with axes to grind. That is real fear, and our governor could immediately cure it by allowing those who want to work to do just that, as well as opening our schools a few weeks into summer.

Looking beyond our borders, the real fear is a looming worldwide hunger crisis. The blood of hundreds of millions will be upon leaders of all nations who continue this shutdown. That is a true and real fear already coming to fruition in India and parts of Africa and is not reported. If farmers and all related industries are not allowed to plant in the northern hemisphere and harvest in the southern hemisphere, the death toll will far surpass that of COVID-19 by almost 1,000 times if the world does labor soon. Collectively, the U.S. must lead the nations in a return to work right now.

Paul Anderson

Ogdensburg