To the Editor,
Re: Response to COVID-19 could be climate change blueprint, Letters, Sept. 2, 2020
It’s not surprising that John Mayba advocates a similar shutdown be imposed to combat global warming as has been done for this COVID-19 pandemic. The global warming activist play-book supplied the “economic shutdown” solution to address a problem.
Are we ready yet to objectively assess the wisdom of this shutdown? On Vancouver Island, five deaths have been officially attributed to COVID-19 over the five months of this pandemic over-reaction. For perspective, this local paper carried 10 obituaries last week.
A simple exercise can tell us how many deaths can be expected in the general population. The median life expectancy, 82 years, multiplied by 365, the days in a year, gives us 30,000. That tells us we can expect to see one death each day for a population of 30,000 people. We will find that the death toll for COVID-19 will be invisibly buried in the general death statistics.
Are we ready to admit that we have needlessly destroyed the life-support system for millions of people? Can we finally see that house-arrest for healthy people is not a healthy solution for an economy?
I suspect, a year from now this view will be universal as the full effect of this shutdown will be felt.
As for Mr. Mayba, will someone please buy him a copy of, Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All by Michael Shellenberger? Possibly then, he too will realize that inciting public panic is a poor way to sell an idea.
Gary Seinen,
Port Alberni