Governments botching handling of COVID-19 illness

Early in 2020 governments started panicking about the emergence of a strong corona virus now called SARS-CoV(2), which created an illness now called COVID-19.

It spread quickly around the world via industrial and military connections as well as people visiting family.
Initially it may not have been recognized as something other than a strong variant of INFLUENZA, the perennial killer corona virus (symptoms are quite similar, both attack your respiratory system, SARS-CoV-2 also has some vascular impact, respiratory illness often leads to death from pneumonia taking advantage of weakened lungs).

It was of great concern to many people, with reports of high rates of death and with dire predictions from 'models' (formulas used to predict) and fear that hospitals would be overwhelmed.

But reality was that like INFLUENZA its severe impact was primarily on people with substantial health problems - especially heart and lung, or deficient immune systems.

Occupants of long-term stay facilities such as those called 'care residences' or 'nursing homes' were especially at risk because most occupants there have health or mobility problems, care aides visit many occupants during the course of a day and have to be in close contact, and there are often special events such as singalongs and birthday parties. And in BC care aides were working in more than one facility for some reason, so cross-contaminated facilities.

Some fiefdoms insisted all known infected persons to to a hospital, that overwhelmed them leaving no space for people who later became seriously ill. Governments like BC's failed to notice that fact, so assumed their own hospitals would be overwhelmed, given the dire predictions of their 'models'.

People with deficient immune systems such as from cancer treatment, organ transplant, asthma, and immune-suppressing diseases could isolate - I know several couples who are staying at home most of the time because one or both persons is at risk.

While there was no vaccine against the virus - though vaccines against INFLUENZA are not fully effective, and no proven magic medicine. Prevention by hand hygiene and masks to block droplets from coughing and sneeszing was available.)
Most governments got emotional far beyond behaviour in previous pandemics such as Hong Kong flu, swine flu, and SARS (the original, which version 2 closely resembles). Governments closed businesses and tried to restrict movement of individuals.
Politicians fell over themseves pandering and controlling, in layers, blaming other politicians especially if they were in the US.
Ontario's premier ranted that he was saving children, when in reality COVID-19 does not have much effect on children (unlike NFLUENZA). Quebec's Premier claimed the military were not responding quickly enough despite most of the 1000 they requested to help with their care residence fiasco were already in Quebec before the formal request was actually sent. Prime Minister Trudeau sneered at the US, ignorant of different methods of obtaining statistics. The mayor of Langford ran around doing what politicians do - jumping up as though they were leading a trend, duplicating efforts of higher levels of government.
The results was people dying because surgery was delayed, dying because they were afraid to go to hospital until it was too late, commiting suicide. Lives will be shorter because of the stress and deprivaton of working harder to make ends meet at the expense of their health, and job loss. Our economy entered a Recession, headed for a Depression, with the future damage from massive government spending, and risk of inflation decimating pensions and savings of retired persons as happened in the 1970s ad 1980s.

A few however, like Florida, Sweden, and The Netherlands, were wiser - they looked at where the risk really was and acted assertively and sensibly against it, they succeeded without great harm to individual rights.
Florida grasped the lesson from Italy of vulnerability of residents of care homes. Some private chains of care residences took action when they heard of the virus, as they knew it would eventually come to North America.
Governments had failed to prepare for another pandemic, initially blocked development of test kits, and blocked use of home made fabric masks when they could not provide enough of the higher category ones. Private organizations and individual volunteers did step up to provide some basic protection aids including face shields. Because government pronouncements induced fear people hoarded supplies like toilet paper, some businesses were industrious in producing more and finding alternative sources of disinfectants.. Herein I present information on government errors and successes, initially in the form of copies of emails sent to government officials in BC as well as a link to a list of advice from experienced epidemiologists and modellers as well as on economic loss and harm to the freedom that feeds us.

COVID-19 PANICDEMIC

Collateral damage.
Deaths caused by government policies.)

Common sense isn't.
Email to BC's Health Officer criticizing use of models and government behaviour.
(Ms. Henry has advocated 'common sense', I suggest she isn't practicing that today.)

Bonnie Henry's Major Mistakes.
Email to BC's Health Officer chronicling her mistakes in dealing with COVID-19.

URLs for criticism of government behaviour prolonging COVID-19 panicdemic.
- recommendations of experienced epidemiologists and modellers, cost to health other than COVID-19, harm to freedom

Perspective on the COVID-19 panicdemic.
(Comments to an aviation blog.)

Need second health opinion

Politicians are the real problem with COVID-19.

REFERENCES:

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Version 2021.05.29
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