Over 12,000 scientists sign "anti-lockdown" petition

CAPE TOWN - Many countries across the world used lockdowns, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Although the results have differed from country to country, many believe that lockdowns have been successful in stopping the spread of the virus.

Over 12,000 scientists from around the world have signed a petition suggesting that coronavirus lockdowns will have irreversible consequences.

According to the authors of the petition, lockdowns have caused "lower childhood vaccination rates, worsening cardiovascular disease outcomes, fewer cancer screenings and deteriorating mental health," which lead to greater mortality rates in the near future.

Instead, they recommend an approach they call "focused protection."

The petition was written on October 4 and co-authored by Martin Kulldorff, a professor of medicine at Harvard; Sunetra Gupta, a professor at Oxford University; and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor at Stanford University Medical School.

"Lockdowns have caused enormous collateral damage on public health. This is directly observed by medical professionals and scientists in a wide variety of fields, including pediatrics, geriatrics, oncology, cardiology, surgery and psychiatry. Hence, it is not surprising that thousands of them have co-signed the Great Barrington Declaration," Kulldorff told Newsweek.

Meanwhile, according to recent survey results New Zealand’s lockdown had great success in containing Covid-19 but it came at a cost, not just to the country's economy, but also to its people’s mental wellbeing

"New Zealand's lockdown successfully eliminated Covid-19 from the community, but our results show this achievement brought a significant psychological toll," study co-author and psychologist Susanna Every-Palmer from the University of Otago, Canada, said in a

news release

.

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