Since the beginning of government decisions to lock down society in the name of public health, I have been an outspoken opponent of the measures. It was understandable that a "new" virus would send some shockwaves through society, especially with the video of people being dragged out of their homes in China by soldiers and specialists in hazmat suits. But immediately, my instinct was to err on the side of civil liberty, rejecting government panic measures that would limit your movement and activity.

My first reference point was the 2009 swine flu pandemic which caused a few schools to close in order to deal with breakouts which had a deadly impact on some children. But no economic shutdown, no distance, no masks and certainly no restrictions on what you can do in your own home. Despite virtually no action, the virus abated.

My second reference was the reporting done by the Centers for Disease Control every year about the hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and 10s of thousands of deaths every year. No lockdowns, virtually no school closures, certainly no social distance, no masks and no limits on gatherings. And the flu kills kids at a much higher rate than COVID. Despite no action on the part of government, the flu also abates every season. Some will say that COVID is different because it spreads so quickly and can be so deadly to vulnerable people. There's no argument from me on that. And it's because of that fact we should have never locked down.

The World Health Organization has already shown how 750 million people have had coronavirus. The mortality rate is estimated to be .13 compared to .11 with influenza. We also know that two-third of the hospitalizations in the late spring in New York were among people who were staying at home. We know that the pandemic peaked in NYC, specifically in the hard-hit Bronx, on April 7 when deaths, transfers and discharged outnumbered admissions. That was the point when the goal of making sure we didn't overwhelm our hospitals and knew we had the capacity to treat the sick.

So even if you agreed with the initial lockdown to "stop the spread" as a practical way of protecting the front line and our ability to help people, it was literally "mission accomplished" in April. Of course, things got progressively worse after that because the goal changed. Instead of making sure we weren't overwhelmed, which never happened, government turned the focus on the number of people dying, then hospitalized ... and now? The lockdown is justified by an increasing number of positive test results.

There is overwhelming evidence that the test being used to deny you your civil rights is flawed and most of the positives are not an indicator of sickness or transmission. Part of the problem is that the media continues to buy into the government narrative, that case numbers and hospitalizations matter. Every day you are spoon fed numbers that have literally no bearing on your life and certainly have no impact on your safety. So what if there are a few thousands people who test positive? Most of them are healthy and would have never known they had a touch of the virus.

The test itself puts samples through what is called a cycle. The few cycles used to detect the virus, the more of it is present in your body. The more cycles, the lower the presence of the virus. Many docs will tell you that if you run enough cycles, nearly everyone could test positive. After 15, 20, 25 cycles, the tests are simply not reliable and are not an indicator of sickness. Knowing this, it's really disconcerting that the FDA is recommending running 40 cycles.

So thousands of daily tests on healthy people and false positives are all adding up to numbers that are completely irrelevant to public health. The only relevance of case reporting is to fan the flames of fear and panic. This of course keeps a level of concern among millions who have now been convinced that the only solution is a vaccine. A vaccine for a disease that has a 99% survival rate? A vaccine for a disease which has a higher death age than the average death age in the nation? That's right, Americans are living to the ripe old age of 78 on average. COVID patients who die are aged 79-82. A vaccine for a disease that for most people will have no symptoms, and if you get sick for most the symptoms will be just like having a cold.

So, society went into a panic over a sickness that we've essentially been dealing with every cold and flu season. Our behavior has been under assault by government from the beginning of the pandemic. As if social distance and masks are the only way for us to survive and not kill grandma until the big pharma companies deliver the savior of a vaccine, which of course will line their pockets to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. Big hospitals are also benefiting tremendously from the case-demic with thousands of dollars for each patient testing positive delivered from the federal government. Is it any wonder why the only focus is to test for COVID?

Meanwhile, every year more than a million Americans die from cancer and heart disease. Many docs now warning that these numbers will be going up as people are missing necessary treatment, either from fear or the ridiculous circumstances surrounding hospital visits. One of the consequences of the lockdown, in addition to excess deaths from the things people have always died from, is the isolation of patients. Cancer patients are unable to see family members while being treated. Long term care residents are isolated and suffering without the support network of friends and family. Children who need to socialize and interact with friends are being scared by adults into thinking if they play with their friends they may kill elderly relatives.

Fear is a powerful tool. Fear has been used by governments for centuries to enslave people. Governments don't have to enslave people with guns and soldiers if they're scared. They will go willingly to the chains if they are convinced that the government will keep them safe. Americans, frightened by what is essentially a cold virus, have traded liberty for safety in the past eight months. Tens of millions out of work, families destroyed, suicides and drug abuse spiking. Child abuse and domestic abuse all going unchecked as people are isolated from those who could help them. Tens of thousands of small businesses in our region will never open their doors again. Public schools have transferred the responsibility of basic education to parents, all the while your taxes stay high and the teachers unions continue to collect 100% of the benefits afforded by the hardworking taxpayers.

It's not going to get better until you face your fear, accept your mortality and learn the facts. One of the voices of facts and reason is well known cancer doctor, Colleen Huber. She joined me to add a medical perspective to why we need to open up the state and country 100% before it's too late for millions of workers and families.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Spadea. Any opinions expressed are Bill's own. Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015.

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