U.S. Covid-19 Research: Reaction, Results, Reasons, Recommendation

An on-going substantive Covid-19 research compilation, relative to the long-term, all-ages + conditions reactive response, mainly citing research and mainstream media via over 95 footnotes and or inline links, by the grace of God. New findings to be added continuously.

Contents

1. Case Fatality Rates per age groups

2. CDC Covid-19 case and death criteria

3. Conditions and Comorbidities

4. Environmental Restrictions relative to Transmission, Conditions and Deaths

5. Environmental Restrictions, Psychological effects and Violence

6. Vaccination and Prevention

7. Recommendations

1. Case Fatality Rates per age group

Age alone (though substantially linked to overall heath) is the most pronounced factor in Covid-19 deaths, but Covid-19 comorbidities are the over driver behind Covid-assigned deaths. .

COVID-19 is real and a serious threat overall to those in poor health, and especially the aged, as the CDC reported that more than 81% of COVID-19 deaths occur in people over age 65, and with the number of deaths among people over age 65 being 80 times higher than the number of deaths among people aged 18-29.[1] However, obesity — which over 42% of Americans are — along with high blood pressure and diabetes (which tend to be related to obesity) are leading comorbidities in Covid-assigned deaths (and obesity itself is estimated to be attributable to 2,800,000 deaths in America over a 10 year period — at 280,000 per year).

Based on CDC statistics from between the beginning of January 2020 until Jan. 31, 2022 (the latest data when I ran the numbers), the total US Case Fatality Rate (CFR) — which is the percentage of Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. out of the total number of cases — calculates to be 1.19% (881,887 total deaths out of 74,282,892 total cases). The CFR per 1 million is the same, as it should be. But these total figures include all people of all ages and conditions while, as per age, at this time of writing based upon the latest available (1-26-22) CDC figures for all deaths (involving COVID-19) per age groups and those for cases per age groups combined from Statistia (since I cannot find these buried in CDC data), then the CFR for those aged 0-17 calculates to under 0.01%; and for those aged 18-29 the CFR is 0.05%; for ages 30-39 it is 0.17%; for ages 40-49 it is 0.48%; for ages 50-64 it is 1.6%; but for the ages of 65-74 it rises to 5.39%; and for the combined ages of 75 to 84 then it leaps to 12.33%; and all those who are 85 and older then it jumps to 24.3%.

COVID-19 CFR rates as of 1-31-22:

Age group

Covid-assigned deaths

COVID-diagnosed cases

CFR

% of Covid deaths

All

881,887

74,282,892

1.19%


0-17

748

9,335,223 (accumulative 0-17)

0.0.1%

Under

0.1%

18-29

5,360

11,883,443

0.05%

0.8%

30-39

15,756

9,281,238

0.17%

1.8%

40-49

37,753

7,898,665

0.48%

4%

50-64

162,327

10,127,188

1.6%

17.6%

65-74

197,498

3,664,469

5.39%

22.1%

75-84

221,779

1,798,493

12.33%

26%

85+

223,040

917,857

24.3%

27.5%

0-64

221,944

48,525,757

0.46%

26%

65>:74%

<45: 4%

1-31-22: Confirmed cases as % of total US population (rounded):

All

74,282,892 cases out of 334,000,000 Pop. = 22.24%

1-31-22: Confirmed deaths as % of total US population:

All

910,104 deaths out of 334,000,000 Pop. = 0.27%

Estimated Infection Fatality Rate (IFR: est. total infections and deaths) from February 2020 to September 2021:

All (9-21)

921,000 est. deaths

146.6 Million est. cases

0.63%


Est. deaths as % of total US population:

All (9-21)

921,000 est. deaths

334,000,000 Pop

0.28%


For a comparison, the odds of dying in a motor vehicle accident are calculated to be 1 in 107 (0.93%) and your chances of getting into a motor vehicle accident are calculated as one in 366 (0.27%) for every 1,000 miles driven. The lifetime odds of dying in an automotive accident as an occupant of an on-road motorized vehicle are estimated to be about 1 in 158 (0.63%).

Therefore, with the CFR for those ages 0-17 being 0.01%, then despite headlines of exceptions, for the young (and fit and healthy) the odds of dying from Covid-19 are very minimal. That is, unless you are “quarantined” in the womb, since as the CDC reports, "in 2019, the abortion ratio was 195 abortions per 1,000 live births,” which means that the “pregnancy fatality rate” (PFR) is19.5% (excluding spontaneous miscarriages among known pregnancies which are estimated to average approx15%).

Thus to impose long-term severe restrictions and requirements in the interest of saving lives (yet which restrictions have their own deleterious effects) due to an infectious somewhat preventable disease, while actually fostering the death of the most vulnerable who are safely “quarantined” in the womb of their mother — as well as doing comparatively little to combat the leading Covid-19 comorbidities — is irrationally inconsistent. TOC^

2. CDC Covid-19 case and death criteria

The broad criteria for listing Covid-19 as the presumed cause of death impugns the credibility of the numbers of claimed Covid-19 deaths.

Note also that the number of Covid-19 deaths are likely inflated due to the broad minimal criteria of the CDC in 2020 for assigning Covid-19 as a Probable cause, which need to only meet Clinical Criteria and Epidemiologic Linkage without confirmatory or presumptive Laboratory Evidence. (However, under the 2021 criteria the latter presumptive lab evidence can supplant the other two as qualification for a presumed Covid case and thus death. Yet again, Vital Records Criteria alone will suffice, which is a “death certificate that lists COVID-19 disease or SARS-CoV-2 or an equivalent term as an underlying cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death.”) .

Under the original (April 2020 to August 5, 2020) version (there are three so far) of the broad minimal criteria of the CDC in 2020 for assigning Covid-19 as the probable cause of death, a case can be listed as Covid death on the basis of (under “Clinical Criteria”) as little as a headache and subjective fever, or just a cough or shortness of breath and which lack a more likely diagnosis than Covid-19. Along with (under “Epidemiologic Linkage)” being part of an exposed risk community (areas or locations of high transmission rates), or having had close contact (being within 6 feet for at least 15 minutes over the course of 24 hours) with a probable case of COVID-19.

The 8-5-2020 version added 4 more symptoms or conditions to its list (making it 17) under clinical criteria which require one or two for qualification (“in the absence of a more likely diagnosis”).

In 2021, in implicit further recognition and or admission that the criteria had been too broad (and with a new president beginning vaccination developed under president Trump), the CDC tightened up its Clinical Criteria from simply having as little as a cough or shortness of breath (“in the absence of a more likely diagnosis”) to prefacing it as “Acute onset or worsening of...” such, while expanding the list of symptoms or conditions to 21 under Clinical Criteria.

Moreover, regarding vital records criteria noted above, since a Probable case is one that “Meets clinical criteria AND epidemiologic linkage with no confirmatory or presumptive laboratory evidence for SARS-CoV-2,” OR “Meets presumptive laboratory evidence, OR Meets vital records criteria with no confirmatory laboratory evidence for SARS-CoV-2,” then since the latter alone suffices as criteria for counting a death as due to Covid, then it presumes that the official assigning Covid-19 as the cause has at least followed the aforementioned CDC criteria for determining if a person had Covid-19. And yet it is far from certain that Covid-19 was the actual cause of death.

In addition, “meets presumptive laboratory evidence” is also a sole condition for assigning Covid-19 as the cause of death, and which means “Detection of SARS-CoV-2 specific antigen in a post-mortem obtained respiratory swab or clinical specimen using a diagnostic test performed by a CLIA-certified provider.”

What also would qualify as a Covid-19 positive case is those who went to a hospital for something entirely unrelated to that virus, but who tested positive as a result of routine testing. And which Dr. Fauci affirmed results in over counting of cases: "What we mean by that is that if a child goes in the hospital they automatically get tested for COVID and they get counted as a COVID hospitalized individual, when in fact they may go in for a broken leg or appendicitis or something like that. So it's over counting the number of children who are 'hospitalized' with COVID as opposed to because of COVID."

Note that the CDC states “people can continue to test positive for COVID-19 for up to 3 months after diagnosis,” for as the CDC further affirmed, “patients who have recovered from COVID-19 can continue to have detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA in upper respiratory specimens (test positive) for up to 3 months after illness onset and not be infectious. And according to one study involving 3 states, up to 90% of persons testing positive via PCR tests have such a low viral load that they are not likely to be contagious. Yet for some time the CDC was conflating viral and antibody tests, combining test results that diagnose current coronavirus infections with test results that measure whether someone has ever had the virus. Moreover, determining persons to be infectious as a result of the oversensitive PCR test can result in excessive waits for discharges, because test keep coming back positive after they recovered.

Therefore, contrary to what at least one liberal “fact checker” entity asserts,[2] there have been changes in how the CDC is counting COVID-19 deaths, as preceding research substantiates. Also, before and after (a new presidential administration as well as) vaccination began then some totals of Covid-assigned deaths were significantly revised downward after further consideration.

Moreover, as USA Today confirmed,

Hospitals and doctors do get paid more for Medicare patients diagnosed with COVID-19 or if it's considered presumed they have COVID-19 absent a laboratory-confirmed test, and three times more if the patients are placed on a ventilator to cover the cost of care and loss of business resulting from a shift in focus to treat COVID-19 cases.”

Likewise, FEMA provides funding for COVID-19 funeral cases, awarding more than $447 million as June 29, 2021, at which time the agency announced a new policy that “provides applicants, as well as medical authorities, coroners and jurisdictions, flexibility to attribute a death to COVID-19” that occurred that occurred between Jan. 20 and May 16, 2020,without amending the death certificate. Applicants who incurred COVID-19-related funeral expenses between Jan. 20 and May 16, 2020, will be able to submit a death certificate that does not attribute the death to COVID-19 along with a signed statement from the certifying official listed on the death certificate, coroner, or medical examiner linking the death to COVID-19.”

As of 12–05-21, for over 5% of reported COVID-19 deaths, that virus was the only cause mentioned on the death certificate, and “for deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 4.0 additional conditions or causes per death.” While this does not necessarily mean the virus was not the leading contributor in the other 94% of the deaths, and it certainly does not mean it was the leading contributor in all the other 94% of these deaths. The liberally biased politifact.com web site, in correcting the erroneous Aug. 31, 2020 claim that the CDC decreased the number of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. from 153,504 to 9,210 based upon the CDC figure of all but 6% of Covid-19 death listed comorbidities, states that, “The vast majority of coronavirus-related deaths occur in patients who have other conditions, which are also listed on their death certificates, but that doesn’t mean COVID-19 was not a factor in their deaths. The CDC considers the underlying cause of death as "the condition that began the chain of events that ultimately led to the person’s death," Jeff Lancashire, acting associate director for communications at the NCHS told us.”

However, being “a factor” does not make it the cause, for there is a difference between a condition coinciding with or contributing to an event versus being the cause of it. And while Covid-19 can certainly be the condition that pushes a person over the edge, yet unlike something like HIV or Ebola which typically (at least without intervention) can slay otherwise healthy persons, the condition that began the chain of events in so many Covid-assigned death can be those which would have soon resulted in the death of the person at issue anyway. TOC^

3. Conditions and Comorbidities

Certain health conditions are Covid-19 comorbidities

Research finds that obesity along with high blood pressure and diabetes (which typically are related to obesity [3][4] [5]) are the leading comorbidities in Covid-assigned deaths.[6] And over 70% of Americans are overweight or obese. [7] And while Covid-assigned deaths are now over 800,000 in America, yet according to the National Library of Medicine the estimated number of deaths per year in America that are attributable to obesity among US adults is approximately 280,000. Which means 2,800,000 over a 10 year period. [8] In addition, it was recently reported that U.S. diabetes deaths were over 100,000 for the second straight year.

The CDC reported that obesity is linked to impaired immune function, and may triple the risk of hospitalization due to a COVID-19 infection, and decreases lung capacity and reserve and can make ventilation more difficult. And the increased risk for hospitalization or death was particularly pronounced in those under age 65,[9] and that about 78% of people that were hospitalized, needed a ventilator or died from Covid-19 were overweight or obese. [10]

This includes some otherwise healthy, hard-working people and even the young. Since the pandemic began dozens of studies have reported that many of the sickest COVID-19 patients have been people with obesity A study published in August 2020 reported that an international team of researchers who pooled data from scores of peer-reviewed papers capturing 399,000 patients, found that “people with obesity who contracted SARS-CoV-2 were 113% more likely than people of healthy weight to land in the hospital, 74% more likely to be admitted to an ICU, and 48% more likely to die.” Another study found that 77% of nearly 17,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were overweight (29%) or obese (48%) - and which over 40% of Americans are. [11]

Consistent with this, the majority of global COVID-19 deaths have been in countries where many people are obese, with coronavirus fatality rates 10 times higher in nations where at least 50% of adults are overweight,” and “that 90% or 2.2 million of the 2.5 million deaths from the pandemic disease so far were in countries with high levels of obesity.[12]The report found that every country where less than 40% of the population was overweight had a low Covid-19 death rate of no more than 10 people per 100,000.” “Age is the predominant factor affecting risk of hospitalisation and death from Covid-19, but the report finds that being overweight comes a close second.” [13] cf. [14] [15]

In addition, more recent research has reported that fat cells can act as a reservoir for RNA viruses like influenza A and HIV, providing an additional site for the virus to replicate. TOC^

4. Environmental Restrictions relative to Transmission, Conditions and Deaths

How restrictions on freedom of movement, association and even breathing can foster poor health and Covid-19 comorbidities.

Research study has found that people who didn’t exercise regularly prior to contracting COVID-19 were more likely to die. [16] And obesity is estimated to be responsible for 4.7 million deaths worldwide, [17] and 18% of all deaths in the USA (the latter stat was from way back in 2013. [18]). The CDC also adds, “Obesity is also associated with the leading causes of death in the United States and worldwide, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer.”

Meanwhile data from two US studies suggests that the incidence of type 2 diabetes in children appears to have doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic, and some 42% of U.S. adults reported packing on undesired weight since the start of the pandemic, and 61% reported undesired weight changes. [19] Which closing parks, forest trails, beaches etc. and exhorting "shelter in place" and requiring masking whenever outside (thus deterring outside activity) fosters, and is unwarranted when the rate of transmission that has occurred outdoors seems to be below 1 percent and may be below 0.1 percent.

A recent study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University states that,

Overall, we conclude that [mandated] lockdowns are not an effective way of reducing mortality rates during a pandemic, at least not during the first wave of the COVID - 19 pandemic. Our results are in line with the World Health Organization Writing Group (2006), who state, “ Reports from the 1918 influenza pandemic indicate that social - distancing measures did not stop or appear to dramatically reduce transmission [...] In Edmonton, Canada, isolation and quarantine were instituted; public meetings were banned; schools, churches, colleges, theaters, and other public gathering places were closed; and business hours were restric ted without obvious impact on the epidemic .” Our findings are also in line with Allen 's (2 021) conclusion: “The most recent research has shown that lockdowns have had, at best, a marginal effect on the number of Covid - 19 deaths.” Pg. 40

And research shows that sunlight destroys the virus quickly, and even a Department of Homeland Security official affirmed that increasing temperatures, humidity and sunlight are detrimental to coronavirus saliva droplets on surfaces and in the air.[224] A July 2020 study found that the virus in simulated saliva was inactivated when exposed to simulated sunlight for between 10-20 minutes. 90 percent of the coronavirus's particles were found inactivated after just half an hour of exposure to midday sunlight in summer. Another team of researchers concluded the virus's RNA molecules are photochemically damaged directly by light rays.

Also, relative to this, one study (reported September 18, 2020) of 190,000 blood samples from patients of all ethnicities and ages infected with COVID in all 50 states showed that people deficient in vitamin D were 54% more likely to get COVID-19, meaning vitamin D can reduce the risk of catching coronavirus by 54 percent.  Among newer studies it was found that over 80% of 200 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 had vitamin D deficiency. Patients with lower vitamin D levels also had higher blood levels of inflammatory markers. Other reported research is also finding a correlation between vitamin D status and patterns of COVID-19 recovery.

Furthermore as regards shelter-in-place requirements or exhortations in response to this virus pandemic, a systematic review of peer-reviewed papers stated that five studies found a low proportion of reported global SARS-CoV-2 infections occurred outdoors and that the odds of indoor transmission was very high (almost 19 times higher) as compared to outdoors. [20]  A Massachusetts report on clusters found that household transmission was at the center of the vast majority (almost 94 percent [21] ) of recent COVID-19 cases.[22] And such infection can occur among groups even with very strict restrictions and preventative measures.[23] [24]

Meanwhile, another study found that in household transmissions individuals with symptoms were more than 25 times more likely to infect household members than those without symptoms at the time (0.7 percent).[25] [26] In another report researchers analyzed 54 studies with more 77,000 participants reporting household secondary transmission of coronavirus, which overall found that the risk of catching COVID-19 from family member one lives with was 16.6%. [27]  Moreover, some preliminary research showed superspreading events  [28]  account for most transmission, and that just 20% of coronavirus cases resulted in 80% of transmissions. An estimated 70% of infected patients studied didn't pass the virus at all. [29]

Therefore it is not surprising that since some researchers have found that just 9% of original cases were responsible for 80% of infections detected in close contacts, and that encounters that were most likely to spread the coronavirus were those between members of the same household, then stay-at-home orders are judged to have brought only marginal benefit in preventing infections, and actually can increase infections. [30] Research also indicates that “lockdowns” may not be much more effective than voluntarily measures.[31] Meanwhile, a NIH study of 2015 found that being inside with increased CO2 levels significantly degraded cognitive function. [32]

Moreover, research in 2020 by two medical scientists at Stanford University and UCLA found that, on average, a person in a typical medium to large U.S. county who has a single random contact with another person has a 1 in 3,836 chance of being infected without social distancing, hand-washing or mask-wearing.[33] [34]

Therefore such restrictions as keep people from an active outside life fosters lack of exercise and increased weight, and which contributes to being hypertensive [35] and having high cholesterol, and which, as said, are primary factors in Covid-19 deaths.[36] 

Masking:

While masking can be generally warranted in close contact scenarios (like bars and indoor social events) — even to reduce colds — as they can at least reduce the amount of viral transmission, yet the overall effectiveness of such which would warrant required extensive wearing of them at all times is at least questionable, especially in consideration of negative effects of such. In one study among others, the CDC reported that “In the 14 days before illness onset, 71% of case-patients and 74% of control participants reported always using cloth face coverings or other mask types when in public.” Unequivocally requiring most people to wear masks whenever and wherever outside in public places (as was required in states as MA) is unwise and unwarranted, especially when alone and when exercising.

Meanwhile, long term mask wearing has been found to have detrimental effects, including reducing blood oxygen levels (pa02) significantly, relative to the (limited) effectiveness of the mask and length of time worn (the more effective the mask in blocking particles, the more it reduced blood oxygen levels. And the most common masks have been found to only filter about 10 per cent of exhaled aerosol droplets, primarily due to problems with fit.

N95 masks are the most effective, though even modest ventilation rates were found to be as effective as the best masks in reducing the risk of transmission,  while N95 masks have been found to have a detrimental effect on nasal resistance after removal (though flat masks are better than a cup type due to the dead space of the latter). And dizziness, perspiration, and short-term memory loss have been reported from extended N95 use.

Meanwhile, (less restrictive) homemade cotton masks actually produced particles of their own.  Negative mask-wearing effects also extend to dental issues such as decaying teeth, receding gum lines and seriously sour breath.

Moreover, although the use of face masks might not negatively effect average inhaled O2 during exercise, yet research shows an increased rate and depth of breathing and cardiac output are needed to compensate for the additional CO2 and with slight increases in systolic and diastolic blood pressures.  Therefore the oft-repeated assertion that “face masks don't hinder breathing during exercise” is fallacious and misleading (even cheesecloth will hinder breathing).

In addition, the quarantine as well as masking of children may negatively affect their development of immune systems.

Research by two professors also found that keeping children masked, however necessary, could undermine their bodies’ ability to learn how to fight pathogens:

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the world is unwittingly conducting what amounts to the largest immunological experiment in history on our own children...

Memory T cells begin to form during the first years of life and accumulate during childhood. However, for memory T cells to become functionally mature, multiple exposures may be necessary, particularly for cells residing in tissues such as the lung and intestines, where we encounter numerous pathogens. These exposures typically and naturally occur during the everyday experiences of childhood — such as interactions with friends, teachers, trips to the playground, sports — all of which have been curtailed or shut down entirely during efforts to mitigate viral spread. As a result, we are altering the frequency, breadth and degree of exposures that are crucial for immune memory development.[37]

Another study by German researchers concluded that thereis a concern of mask-wearing causing hypercapnia [an abnormally high level of carbon dioxide in the blood] among children, and harmful in other ways, and thus as such, they should not be forced to wear masks.

By 26.10.2020 the registry had been used by 20,353 people. In this publication we report the results from the parents, who entered data on a total of 25,930 children. The average wearing time of the mask was 270 minutes per day. Impairments caused by wearing the mask were reported by 68% of the parents. These included irritability (60%), headache (53%), difficulty concentrating (50%), less happiness (49%), reluctance to go to school/kindergarten (44%), malaise (42%) impaired learning (38%) and drowsiness or fatigue (37%)…. A precise benefit-risk analysis is urgently required. The occurrence of reported side effects in children due to wearing the masks must be taken seriously.[38]

In addition, the proportion of masks in litter increased by >80-fold as a result of COVID-19 legislation, The largest increase in the reported proportions was for masks. The United Kingdom showed the highest overall proportion of masks, gloves and wipes as litter. Other countries showed different patterns of COVID-19-related litter proportions. Sweden had many months when no COVID-19-related litter was recorded. [39]

TOC^

5. Environmental Restrictions and Psychological, effects and Violence

In addition to the aforementioned physical effects of quarantine-type restrictions are the economic and related psychological and additional negative physical effects.

On Aug. 2 it was reported [40]  that thirty-six of of the top 50 cities in America had a collective 24% jump in homicides this year compared to 2019, with a total of 3,612 murders in 2020 being reported so far. More recently, a 4/3/2021 report states that sixty-three major American cities saw a 33% increase in homicides in 2020. [41] More recently, according to the FBI's annual report on crime, the nationwide murder rate, homicides rose by 30% in 2020 - the largest increase ever. [42]  (decreased police funding is part of this, plus declining prosecutions, resulting in misleading claims of less crime).

Also, according to one meta-analysis of 42 studies involving 20 million people, the risk of death increases 63 percent when one loses their job, and that for every one percentage point increase in the unemployment rate, there are 37,000 deaths, mainly from heart attacks, but another 1,000 from suicides and another 650 from homicides. [43]

The Washington Post (in seeking to promote gun control) reported [44] in November 2020 that studies have established strong correlations between suicide and pressure such as unemployment, evictions and displacement and which have all risen sharply during the pandemic. And that Federal surveys show 40 percent of Americans in general, and close to 75 percent of young adults, are now struggling with at least one mental health or drug-related problem. Furthermore, that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported over 25% of young adults had said they had considered killing themselves within the past 30 days, versus 10.5 percent in 2018. And that officials in Arizona’s Pima County reported that by the summer of 2020 the number of suicides in Oregon’s Columbia County had already exceeded last year’s total, while the Chicago suburb DuPage County reported a 23 percent rise in suicides compared with last year. Also, that suicides among African Americans in Chicago itself had far exceeded the total for 2019.

Researchers in Spring 2021 found marked declines in both physical and emotional health. Students sustained a 35% decline in their number of daily steps in walking, and a 36% increase in the number at risk of clinical depression. The researchers estimated that 42-56% of their participants by spring 2021 were at risk for clinical depression. [45]

These are in addition to reports such as “Calls to suicide and help hotline in Los Angeles increase 8,000% due to coronavirus,[46] while Doctors at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek say they have seen more deaths by suicide during this quarantine period than deaths from the COVID-19 virus,”[47 ] and increased rate can extend to children. [48]

A study published March 2 reports that self-harm by children and suicides have increased exponentially during COVID-19 lockdowns that have closed schools, finding that,

In March and April 2020, mental health claim lines1 for individuals aged 13 - 18, as a percentage of all medical claim lines, approximately doubled over the same months in the previous year. Claim lines for intentional self - harm as a percentage of all medical claim lines in the 13 - 18 age group increased 99.83 percent in March 2020 compared to March 2019 . The increase was even larger when comparing April 2020 to April 2019, nearly doubling (99.83 percent). For the age group 13 - 18, claim lines for overdoses increased 94.91 percent as a percentage of all medical claim lines in March 2020 and 119.31 percent in April 2020 over the same months the year before. [49]

Citing this study ,Dr. Martin Makary, professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, stated that self-harm and overdoses increased 91-100% and children are 10X more likely to die of suicide than coronavirus.[50] Overall, the number of psychiatric-related hospital visits among young people increased 31 percent last year. [51] Teenage suicide in California, increased 24 percent, leading to 134 deaths in 2020 while only 23 California minors died of Covid-19.[52] [53]

In addition to which are greatly increased drug overdoses and deaths during COVID.[54] [55] [56] A recent analysis found that U.S. drug overdose deaths rose 30% to record during the pandemic,[57] which report was folllowed by a November 17, 2021 report by the CDC which estimated that there were an unprecedented 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the United States during 12-month period ending in April 2021, led by overdose deaths from opioids which increased to 75,673 in the 12-month period ending in April 2021, up from 56,064 the year before. [58]

There has also been significant rise in the use of porn [59] and divorces. [60]And although measures taken to prevent Covid-19 infections may reduce transmission of certain other illnesses, yet due to the focus upon detection and treatment of Covid-19, neglect of the same for other diseases can result in more deaths.[61] Worldwide up to 6.3 million more people are predicted to develop TB between now and 2025 and 1.4 million more people are expected to die as cases go undiagnosed and untreated during lockdown.[62] TOC^

6. Vaccination and Prevention

Numerous new studies suggest that Covid-19 infection in recovered persons results in a lasting protective immune response, ,[63] [64] [65] [66] [67] [68] [69] [70] [71] [72]  even in people who developed only mild symptoms of Covid-19, [73]and perhaps equal to [74] or even greater than vaccination alone [75] [76][76] [77] [78[ [79] (there are also studies on immunity which indicate vaccination may not be necessary for those with acquired immunity [80] [81], at least if relatively recently acquired, nor as necessary for all fit and health persons).

On Jan. 19, 2021, the CDC reported,

By early October, persons who survived a previous infection had lower case rates than persons who were vaccinated alone… Across the entire study period [ May–November 2021], persons with vaccine- and infection-derived immunity had much lower rates of hospitalization compared with those in unvaccinated persons. These results suggest that vaccination protects against COVID-19 and related hospitalization and that surviving a previous infection protects against a reinfection. Importantly, infection-derived protection was greater after the highly transmissible Delta variant became predominant, coinciding with early declining of vaccine-induced immunity in many persons g with early declining of vaccine-induced immunity in many persons.

A study of 353,326 coronavirus patients in Qatar who were infected between Feb. 28, 2020 and April 28, 2021, excluding 87,547 people who were vaccinated, found that a person who has already had a primary infection, then the risk of having a severe reinfection is only approximately 1% of the risk of a previously uninfected person having a severe primary infection.[82] In addition, according to one study the viral loads of persons with the Delta variant have been found to be the same among both vaccinated and unvaccinated persons, with or without symptoms.[83].

Another study (reported 2–24–21) from the National Cancer Institute also found that Coronavirus infection leads to immunity that’s comparable to a COVID-19 vaccine, with the risk of developing a subsequent infection more than three months later being about 90% lower than it was for people who had not been previously infected and had no immunity.[84] [85] [86] In addition, a Cleveland Clinic study evaluated COVID-19 infections in 52,238 employees and found that COVID-19 did not occur in anyone over the five months of the study among 2579 individuals previously infected with COVID-19, including 1359 who did not take the vaccine.[87]

Meanwhile, although overall effective against the Alpha variant, increasing reports testify to vaccination being far less effective against the Delta variant, with a study finding decreasing effectiveness of vaccination over time, with the Pfizer vaccine in preventing infection of the coronavirus declining to 53% after four months (and to 67% from 97% against other coronavirus variants), and efficacy against Delta dropping to 47% from 88% after six months after the second dose, [88] while from day 211 and onwards no effectiveness could be detected. [89] Also according to reported research, Modernas COVID-19 vaccine dropped to 58 percent in September from 89.2 percent effectiveness in March. “During the same time frame, Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine fell to 43.3 percent from 86.9 percent, and Johnson & Johnson’s shot declined to 13.1 percent from 86.4 percent. The WHO said (Nov. 24. 2021) that “Data suggest that before the arrival of the Delta variant, vaccines reduced transmission by about 60%. With Delta, that has dropped to about 40%, but that the vaccinated “have a much lower risk of severe disease and death.” [90]

While (before Omicron) the overwhelming majority of Covid-19 have typically been reported to be among the non-vaccinated, [90] [91]  some claim these stats are not accurate due to the CDC only tracking a fraction of breakthrough cases for many months, and reports from certain highly vaccinated places of high case and or Covid-19 death numbers among the vaccinated, [92] [91][92] recently that of South Korea.

In addition, as regards the Omicron coronavirus variant, the effectiveness of two shots of Moderna against symptomatic disease dropped from 60 percent two to four weeks after inoculation to 45 percent, at 10 weeks, and the effectiveness of the Pfizer booster decreased to just 35 percent. A double-dosed with Pfizer plus a Moderna booster provided greater longer effectiveness. In Denmark as of December 15, 2021 79 percent of those infected with Omicron were fully vaccinated. And despite being one of the most COVID-restrictive countries, and as of Jan. 12, 2021, 92.5% of people aged 16 and being double vaccinated, yet (with the Omicron variant) death rates have been increasing and the vast majority (69%) of those hospitalized were double vaccinated versus 29% unvaccinated (but 49% of COVID - 19 patients in ICU’s).

Other — if controversial — reports are those of the lack of solid testing of Covid-19 vaccines and adverse reactions to them, etc. including in recovered Covid-19 persons [93], and adverse events and even deaths among vaccinated persons. Which in particular, together with the very low threat Covid-19 poses to the young, and the fit and healthy, militates against mandated vaccination of all, as well as the broad imposition of restrictions.

Therefore, regarding vaccination being promoted as the answer, then much due to the Delta variant and waning vaccine efficacy, as of Fall 2021 Covid-assigned case and death rates were actually higher last Fall than a year ago despite upwards to 80% of those 65+ being fully vaccinated. Moreover, as for necessarily attributing lower cases of hospitalization and death rates to increased vaccination, considering how many of the most Covid-19 vulnerable have died (thus the young as percentage of infections has increased), while multitudes of Americans have recovered from it, then rates should be lower even without vaccination.

All of which can mean that the lockdown measures can end up being responsible for more deaths across the globe than the Coronavirus itself, which is what a German official warns of.[93] Over 600 doctors signed onto a letter sent to President Trump favoring an end the "national shutdown," referring to it as being a "mass casualty incident" with "exponentially growing health consequences." [94] And numerous new studies suggest or attest that Covid-19 infection in recovered persons results in a lasting protective immune response, even in people who developed only mild symptoms of Covid-19, and perhaps equal to or even greater than vaccination alone. [95] [96][ 97] [98] [99] [100] [101] [101] [103] [104] [105] [106] [107][108] [109] [110] [111] [112] [113] [114]

And all this militates against vaccination mandates for all ages and conditions, since, the foundational issue is still that of the premise of the lethality of Covid being so high across all ages and conditions (vs. mainly the aged and unhealthy) and that of vaccination being so effective that such a mandate could be justified (even for the young and the fit and healthy and those with acquired immunity and who are not in prolonged close contact indoors), which increasingly is evidenced to not be as efficacious as promoted, especially in the long term.

7. Recommendations

Seeing that after over 18 months of varying degrees on restrictions on freedom of movement, association and even speech and breathing, and or coerced vaccination upon all-ages and conditions being justified as necessary to attain goals which were not attained (fromflattening the curve”[115] to “vaccination ensuring non-infection" [116]) or judged as sufficiently doing so, then what is warranted is a far more nuanced program, and one that focus on the underlying conditions in Covid-assigned deaths as others, proportionate to the cost in health and lives of these conditions, and corespondent to the response to Covid-19 itself.

Meaning that rather than perhaps perpetual rounds of boosters to prevent infection and thus (mainly) death, then the lethality of this virus needs to be combated by addressing the primary underlying causes in Covid-assigned deaths, as well as that of at least 20% of premature deaths in general. While the smoking to tobacco has been focused on and outlawed, yet diet/activity patterns are behind even more deaths.

And the related condition of obesity is associated with poorer mental health outcomes and with the leading causes of death in the United States and worldwide, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer. [117]

Using the structure already in place for Covid-19 testing and vaccination, this program against its comorbidities in deaths, then BMI (body mass index) testing could be offered, and a reward program implemented toward a goal of a national BMI of less than 25% being overweight (25 BMI or higher) versus almost 73%. If the government wants to spend money it does not have that is.

In addition, Covid-19 cases and deaths could be classed according to not just age but a health score, relative to BMI and (professed) stamina. How contagious each class is when infected should also be examined. This will better attest to the correspondence between classes and cases, and thus foster focus on the classes in most need.

Stamina should be included since healthy BMI is not enough, for fitness is another aspect, in which regularly working up to sustained exercise should normally be a goal for those with excess weight. Although the Internet abounds with warnings about exercises not to do if over 40, the reality is that while wisdom and caution is needed, such warnings are often used to justify not engaging in physical exercise, and just one out of four people between the ages of 65 and 74 exercises regularly, which lack is what is most harmful, at least for those with excess weight.

The overweight are targeted here because lean people with good eating habits and usually somewhat active lives can live longer than their exercising but overweight counterpart. However, care needs to be taken to clarify that the focus upon weight is not mean to infer that such must be so due to overindulgence, for there are also metabolic reasons, but that concern for them and all requires recognizing difference classes of people.

And of course, relatively speaking, Scripture states, “bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8) For indeed, repentant effectual faith in the risen Lord Jesus is counted for righteousness, and which faith effects following the Lord in practical holiness, but in activity also (according to one’s station in life). And the verse above was written in His time when people had to engage in lots of walking and labor, unlike today. Moreover, Scripture warns of the table becoming a snare. (Psalms 69:22)

In conclusion, as regards the reaction fo Covid-19,, rather than shutdowns and ongoing all ages and conditions restrictions the foster a sedentary unhealthy lifestyle and thus more Covid-19 deaths as well as in general, if preservation of life is indeed the concern, then a national program of exhorting and enabling proper weight and fitness would not only prevent the majority of Covid-19 deaths aside from the very aged (which also will benefit), but also extend the lives of ens of thousands in Americans each year.

Also, a national program of installing UV ventilation systems to kill Covid-19 in extended care facilities would likely have saved vast multitudes from premature death.

Howerver, both the pandemic and the faults in reaction are a judgment by God, which is to work repentant seeking of God. Thus I close with some of the words from a God-fearing former president who faced a different calamity in designating a day for National prayer and humiliation: .

Whereas, it is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to owe their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.

And, insomuch as we know that, by His Divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People. We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown.

But we have forgotten God.

We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer. And I do hereby request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.

All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope, authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace.

Hope this helps. http://peacebyjesus.net TOC^