CNN, MSNBC, NYT, WaPo completely avoid Johns Hopkins study finding COVID lockdowns ineffective

What a shocker. The narrative is exposed for what it is, and the media tries to hold on to the narrative.

CNN, MSNBC, NYT, WaPo completely avoid Johns Hopkins study finding COVID lockdowns ineffective

There has been a full-on media blackout of the new study outlining the ineffectiveness of lockdowns to prevent COVID deaths.

According to a Johns Hopkins University meta-analysis of several studies, lockdowns during the first COVID wave in the spring of 2020 only reduced COVID mortality by .2% in the U.S. and Europe.

"While this meta-analysis concludes that lockdowns have had little to no public health effects, they have imposed enormous economic and social costs where they have been adopted," the researchers wrote. "In consequence, lockdown policies are ill-founded and should be rejected as a pandemic policy instrument."

LOCKDOWNS ONLY REDUCED COVID-19 DEATH RATE BY .2%, STUDY FINDS: 'LOCKDOWNS SHOULD BE REJECTED OUT OF HAND'

However, the Johns Hopkins study received no mention on any of the five liberal networks this week. According to Grabien transcripts, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS and NBC all ignored the anti-lockdown findings after having spent much of the pandemic shaming red states with minimal restrictions and events deemed by critics as "superspreaders."

It wasn't just the networks avoiding the study. The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Associated Press, Reuters, USA Today, Axios, Politico among other outlets also turned a blind eye to the findings, according to search results.

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Time Square deserted during lockdown (Ian Jopson)

The researchers – Johns Hopkins University economics professor Steve Hanke, Lund University economics professor Lars Jonung, and special advisor at Copenhagen's Center for Political Studies Jonas Herby – analyzed the effects of lockdown measures such as school shutdowns, business closures, and mask mandates on COVID-19 deaths.

"We find little to no evidence that mandated lockdowns in Europe and the United States had a noticeable effect on COVID-19 mortality rates," the researchers wrote.

The researchers also examined shelter-in-place orders, finding that they reduced COVID-19 mortality by 2.9%.

Studies that looked at only shelter-in-place orders found they reduced COVID-19 mortality by 5.1%, but studies that looked at shelter-in-place orders along with other lockdown measures found that shelter-in-place orders actually increased COVID-19 mortality by 2.8%.

The researchers concluded that limiting gatherings may have actually increased COVID-19 mortality.

"[Shelter-in-place orders] may isolate an infected person at home with his/her family where he/she risks infecting family members with a higher viral load, causing more severe illness," the researchers wrote.

"But often, lockdowns have limited peoples’ access to safe (outdoor) places such as beaches, parks, and zoos, or included outdoor mask mandates or strict outdoor gathering restrictions, pushing people to meet at less safe (indoor) places."

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Close-up of sign for The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. (iStock)

The researchers also examined studies that focused on specific lockdown measures and found that the only intervention that reduced COVID-19 mortality was the closure of non-essential businesses, which reduced mortality by 10.6%, but this effect was likely driven by the closure of bars.

Researchers also pointed out other unintended consequences of lockdowns, such as rising unemployment, reduced schooling, an increase in domestic violence incidents, and surging drug overdoses.

From May 2020 to April 2021, the U.S. recorded 100,306 drug overdose deaths, a 28.5% increase from the 78,056 deaths that were recorded in the previous 12-month period, according to CDC data.

A study from the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice last year found that domestic violence incidents increased 8.1% in the U.S. after lockdown orders were issued.

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Experts advise caution when touching potentially contaminated surfaces. Ensure appropriate levels of hand hygiene to minimize risk of virus transmission, doctors say. (iStock)

About 97% of U.S. teachers said that their students have experienced learning loss during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Horace Mann survey last year.

The unemployment rate peaked nationwide at 14.8% in April 2020, but declined to 3.9% in December, which is still slightly higher than the 3.5% rate it was at in February 2020.

"These costs to society must be compared to the benefits of lockdowns, which our meta-analysis has shown are marginal at best," the researchers in the Johns Hopkins University study wrote. "Such a standard benefit-cost calculation leads to a strong conclusion: lockdowns should be rejected out of hand as a pandemic policy instrument."



(inb4 someone posts an article somewhere on CNN and says "see? They covered it) :)


Do yhou consider economists to be scientists on the same level as doctors and medical researchers?

Also:

The first thing we noticed when we examined the actual study, not the media reports covering the study, was that this was a “working paper” by a group of economists, not epidemiologists. A working paper typically refers to a pre-publication study that has not yet undergone a scientific peer-review process. The authors state as much in a brief description at the top of the study:




So this is NOT a Johns Hopkins study but a meta analysis in a working paper put out by economists...

You cannot just cite something and if we point out flaws claim we simply dont like the result so we ignore it. All non peer reviewed working papers not conducted by people wihtin the field of study should be ignored no matter what the results say until fully vetted and verified..

Also meta studies often start with conclusion first and then go and find studies to back up t heir claim. classic econometric flaw in meta studies.

th report could have said vaccines are great or COVID is deadly or whatever and it would still be bullshit because of....well it is a meta study by economists of medical data...not economics.

I think you know that though
 
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That's right.......easy to say such and such thing didn't work and gloat about it.

Ask them to come up with a solution , then it's deflection and excuses all the way.
 
The media is a classic case of meta analysis bias.

CNN and FOX look for studies that support what they want to say and splash it over their headlines. Anyone with a background in econometrics or data analysis, and I do have some background, can easily dive in and see all the exclaimers, flaws and qualifiers in the studies that the media ignores and the common person accepts.

Look at FOX news taalking about 10 unhealthiest cities in the U.S. being democrat and we all saw the study actually was HEALTHIEST CITIES. Did FOX issue a retraction and then run a story that Democrats run the 10 healthiest cities in the U.S.? Of course not.... does not fit their narrative so that study is ignored.

Meta study bias
 
Do yhou consider economists to be scientists on the same level as doctors and medical researchers?

Same level? No. But doctors have one point - to stop deaths and illness, without regard to anything else. Economists look at it from another angle and consider other variables. Neither one should be discounted and decisions made should encompass all variables. The fact that Johns Hopkins released this after being lauded as such a great source during the pandemic is rather telling.

Also:

The first thing we noticed when we examined the actual study, not the media reports covering the study, was that this was a “working paper” by a group of economists, not epidemiologists. A working paper typically refers to a pre-publication study that has not yet undergone a scientific peer-review process. The authors state as much in a brief description at the top of the study:




So this is NOT a Johns Hopkins study but a meta analysis in a working paper put out by economists...

Right, you said that. Economists. And as I said, I'm glad another conversational point is being included at JH - finally.

You cannot just cite something and if we point out flaws claim we simply dont like the result so we ignore it. All non peer reviewed working papers not conducted by people wihtin the field of study should be ignored no matter what the results say until fully vetted and verified..

Sure I can. GWB does it all the time, and that's who I was having the "conversation with". But true to form, you've shown up to now butt in. So you and I can now discuss. But having these discussions with GWB is useless. He's just an NPC and has been disingenuous from the get go. So why should I waste the time trying to make a point with someone who will never accept any point no matter how well received it is?

Also meta studies often start with conclusion first and then go and find studies to back up t heir claim. classic econometric flaw in meta studies.

th report could have said vaccines are great or COVID is deadly or whatever and it would still be bullshit because of....well it is a meta study by economists of medical data...not economics.

I think you know that though

Again, you said this. Economics is just another variable to consider and one that is finally getting accepted in the discussion. This is a positive development.
 
T

Look at FOX news taalking about 10 unhealthiest cities in the U.S. being democrat and we all saw the study actually was HEALTHIEST CITIES. Did FOX issue a retraction and then run a story that Democrats run the 10 healthiest cities in the U.S.? Of course not.... does not fit their narrative so that study is ignored.

Speaking of healthy and unhealthy locations in the U.S. -- Lay a map of the states with the highest poverty rates in the US over a map of states with the lowest life expectancies, and you get a perfect match, with Mississippi "winning" in both categories

Mississippi had lowest life expectancy in U.S. in 2019, while Hawaii's was highest
A report from the National Center for Health Statistics ranked all 50 states and Washington, D.C., in order of residents’ life expectancies before the pandemic.
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heal...9-mississippi-lowest-hawaii-highest-rcna15562
 
Same level? No. But doctors have one point - to stop deaths and illness, without regard to anything else. Economists look at it from another angle and consider other variables. Neither one should be discounted and decisions made should encompass all variables. The fact that Johns Hopkins released this after being lauded as such a great source during the pandemic is rather telling.



Right, you said that. Economists. And as I said, I'm glad another conversational point is being included at JH - finally.



Sure I can. GWB does it all the time, and that's who I was having the "conversation with". But true to form, you've shown up to now butt in. So you and I can now discuss. But having these discussions with GWB is useless. He's just an NPC and has been disingenuous from the get go. So why should I waste the time trying to make a point with someone who will never accept any point no matter how well received it is?



Again, you said this. Economics is just another variable to consider and one that is finally getting accepted in the discussion. This is a positive development.

I am not arguing the conclusion of good or bad on lockdowns. I am saying this is a media biased presentation of a study that is full of significant flaws.

Johns Hopkins did not endorse this study, that is disingenuous.
 
Sure I can. GWB does it all the time, and that's who I was having the "conversation with". But true to form, you've shown up to now butt in. S.

Sorry your higness.. but you were not having a conversation with GWB... you posted a new thread starter with this topic addressed to everyone.. so I did not BUTT IN and did not realize I needed your permission to post on your thread you started.
 
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