[GoodLife]

Interesting opinion from Dr Scott Atlas of Stanford

The data is in — stop the panic and end the total isolation | TheHill

[dewilson58]

Think if NY would have acted sooner.

[blueash]

Dr. Atlas was reasonably straight forward until he reached his suggestions.

Nursing home residents, the highest risk, should be the most straightforward to systematically protect from infected people, given that they already live in confined places with highly restricted entry.

As many have noted many and maybe most of the deaths are in residents of nursing homes and other elder care facilities. Dr. Atlas acknowledges the need for "highly restricted entry" but he doesn't tell us how to do that. Not his job.

The appropriate policy, based on fundamental biology and the evidence already in hand, is to institute a more focused strategy like some outlined in the first place: Strictly protect the known vulnerable, self-isolate the mildly sick and open most workplaces and small businesses with some prudent large-group precautions.

How do you strictly protect the known vulnerable? It is not just those in nursing homes, it is the elderly here, and in every city and town everywhere? It is an attempt to strictly protect the vulnerable that the present policies were put in place. Self-isolating the sick should be done. But as Dr. Atlas reports, the majority of disease spreaders are not sick. So how do you isolate the virus spreading well? He doesn't define prudent, he presents no options for how to strictly isolate, nor how to keep mildly ill almost all of whom will not know they have COVID, and importantly non-ill COVID spreaders away from those of us who are vulnerable to severe illness.

His "Fact 4" is absolutely not a fact. It is his opinion on what might be happening.

Most states and many hospitals abruptly stopped “nonessential” procedures and surgery

That is true. But the conclusion he draws that people are dying because they are not having nonessential procedures belies the meaning of the word nonessential. It is not true that hospitals are not providing care to non-COVID patients. People with chest pain are receiving care. People with stroke symptoms are receiving care. Are there some people hesitant to go to the ER with these symptoms, yes, and there have always been people who die at home because they hesitated. Are there more people hesitating, maybe and perhaps likely, but there is no evidence for that. If cardiologists are doing fewer consults for chest pain that is not the same as saying people with heart attacks are being missed.
Dr Scott W Atlas is a frequent writer on the intersect of politics and health. His Forbes profile shows which political side he supports. It doesn't make him wrong, or right, but it helps to understand the lens with which he comments.
The report linked is from 4/22
Dr Atlas has been tweeting his thoughts about COVID for many weeks. He expressed the same anti-isolation belief
On Mar 13 he tweeted:
1) if no symptoms, you don't need testing
2) no medical reason to broadly close schools
3) old sicker people are the worry, NOT most people
4) if no symptoms, far less likely to be contagious
5) panic fueled by hysterical media non-experts

He also in his Hoover institute tweets, attacks Al Gore, Bernie S, Obama, and Elizabeth Warren, while praising Reagan, Trump, and Thatcher. He is not a neutral observer. Apparently he thought the facts were in by early March.
See his #4? Read that and then this COVID-19 patients most contagious 1 to 2 days before symptoms: Study

[iaudit]

I see his field of expertise is neuro radiology. I don’t know if I would take his observations and reasoning over those of Dr, Fauci.

[Travelhunter]

I think we need a verified treatment plan and vaccine
Our government should fund all reasonable grants and offer a billion dollar award to any entity that can protect, treat or defeat this illness

[GoodLife]

Originally Posted by iaudit

I see his field of expertise is neuro radiology. I don’t know if I would take his observations and reasoning over those of Dr, Fauci.

Dr Fauci has made some seriously blunderous statements

“This is not a major threat for the people in United States, and this is not something the citizens of the United States right now should be worried about”

"Now, in the United States, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to wear a mask."

“Even if there’s a rare asymptomatic person that might transmit, an epidemic is not driven by asymptomatic carriers,”

[blueash]

Originally Posted by GoodLife

Dr Fauci has made some seriously blunderous statements

“This is not a major threat for the people in United States, and this is not something the citizens of the United States right now should be worried about”

"Now, in the United States, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to wear a mask."

“Even if there’s a rare asymptomatic person that might transmit, an epidemic is not driven by asymptomatic carriers,”

And yes, Fauci was wrong. And when the data changed, he adjusted his opinion. See that's how science works. You have a theory, you test it, and where it fails, you adjust. Fauci has adjusted. Dr. Atlas has not. Doesn't make him wrong. Does make him an ideolog.

[doyle31]

Blueash: Thank you for setting the record straight!!

[Windguy]

Originally Posted by blueash

See that's how science works. You have a theory, you test it.

Actually, if you are talking science, theories are already well tested. Hypothesis is the correct term to use.

[Love2Swim]

Originally Posted by blueash

And yes, Fauci was wrong. And when the data changed, he adjusted his opinion. See that's how science works. You have a theory, you test it, and where it fails, you adjust. Fauci has adjusted. Dr. Atlas has not. Doesn't make him wrong. Does make him an ideolog.

Fauci said "right now" in quote #1. And at that time he was probably correct. When circumstances changed, so did his response. Same with the response to the mask wearing. The third quote about asymptomatic carriers was taken out of context. In the same conversation he admitted they didn't have good numbers to trust, he had uncertainty about his own numbers and that they couldn't answer questions in a sound scientific way until they had good data (antibody tests).

[Arctic Fox]

To me, Sweden's response has always made most sense.

Those who are most vulnerable (the elderly and those with compromising conditions) are told to self-isolate.

Those who are least vulnerable (children) continue to live virtually normal lives, still going to school.

Everyone else can choose - live their life normally (go to work, bars and restaurants) or self-isolate.

Only time will tell which countries made the correct choice, but currently Sweden's figures are looking very good and scientists believe that the population will end up having the highest immunity levels.

[Leadbone1]

Originally Posted by GoodLife

Interesting opinion from Dr Scott Atlas of Stanford

The data is in — stop the panic and end the total isolation | TheHill

Based on where the data is now we should never have shut down. Protecting the most vulnerable is what Sweden did, and letting everyone else, with common sense protections, continue to run their businesses and go to work. That is what should’ve been done. That’s the only way we will achieve herd immunity. The people that have isolated themselves have to come out eventually and they are going to run into asymptomatic people that have this. All this approach we took did was prolong the inevitable, and destroy our economy temporarily.

[ithos]

Ideas on returning our society to a normal state will always be hotly debated because there are too many unknown variables which precludes deriving incontrovertible solutions using scientific protocols.

Any path taken will require some trial and error methods. Fortunately this can be done on a local and state level so that risks are contained while lessons learned can be adopted by others. Thank you Georgia for ignoring the doomsayers and leading the way on undoing the devastation experienced by so many of our low and middle class citizens.

[xNYer]

Originally Posted by devorejh

Based on where the data is now we should never have shut down. Protecting the most vulnerable is what Sweden did, and letting everyone else, with common sense protections, continue to run their businesses and go to work. That is what should’ve been done. That’s the only way we will achieve herd immunity. The people that have isolated themselves have to come out eventually and they are going to run into asymptomatic people that have this. All this approach we took did was prolong the inevitable, and destroy our economy temporarily.

Sweden is anticipated to have 10584 deaths by August 14 with a population of only 10 million. The US is 33 times larger which would then have approximately 349000 using their model.
I wouldn’t call that a success.

[GoodLife]

Originally Posted by blueash

And yes, Fauci was wrong. And when the data changed, he adjusted his opinion. See that's how science works. You have a theory, you test it, and where it fails, you adjust. Fauci has adjusted. Dr. Atlas has not. Doesn't make him wrong. Does make him an ideolog.

Politicians have been wrong. When the polls change, they adjust their opinion. See that's how politics work. You have a theory, you poll it, where it fails, you adjust.