Hundreds of American physicians have signed onto a letter addressed to Vice President Mike Pence and the Coronavirus Task Force that urges the total reopening of the nation’s businesses and schools.
The letter states that, while they value every life that has indeed been lost due to the infection caused by the Chinese coronavirus, the physicians assert the evidence that now exists indicates the lockdowns have “not been necessary to save lives but instead inflicted devastating harm on 10s of millions of people.”
“We CAN treat the sick and protect the vulnerable without social and economic lockdown,” reads the letter, led by healthcare providers from the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS).
The doctors bring several points to light.
“This virus is survivable by greater than 99% of those infected,” they observe. “For those under 60, the estimated infection fatality rate is 0.05%. On average, the infection fatality rate is 0.2%.”
In addition, about 80 percent of those infected with COVID-19 “have no symptoms or mild symptoms at most,” they continue.
“We now know that a well-defined subset of the population is vulnerable to severe illness or death by COVID-19,” the doctors say, specifically noting nursing home patients, who suffer psychologically as well because they are isolated from family members.
The physicians take to task the media which they accuse of “terrifying people, creating crippling fear that has drained the life out of our society.”
They add that “public health officials and administrators” have also been “interfering with medical decision-making,” and specifically cite some elected officials and state boards that have “prevented the use of safe and FDA approved medications” that treat the COVID-19 infection.
“Physicians are also pressured to count deaths in a way that inflates the true infection fatality rate,” the signers assert.
The doctors note that “natural widespread immunity can be achieved safely without waiting for a vaccine” when otherwise healthy individuals contract the virus and immunity builds over time. The physicians stress, however, that those who are especially vulnerable to serious illness or death should be identified and protected whenever possible.
Finally, they urge the task force and elected officials to avoid mass testing of citizens as a means to “create policy that restricts an individual’s livelihood and freedom to participate in society.”
“[A]nd absolutely,” they add, testing “should not be used to threaten businesses and counties with repeated closure.”
“We cannot accept the current dysfunction in society as the ‘new normal,’” the doctors conclude. “Our goal is to lead with hope and courage instead of fear and confusion … Our medical professionals are ready to serve this nation according to the time-honored Hippocratic Oath that calls us to serve with respect and compassion and, above all, to do no harm.”
Physicians who wish to sign onto the letter may do so here at the AAPS website.
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