NJ’s continuing and dangerous panic over COVID-19 (Opinion)

I’ve discussed at length during the pandemic shutdown the need to reopen the economy and reject failed policies of social distancing and universal mask wearing.

One of the driving reasons is that the virus itself peaked and slowed in early to mid-April and continues to drop despite the propaganda pushed by mainstream media outlets and crisis-actor politicians like Phil Murphy.

The so-called ‘spike’ is not only due to massive increases in testing, but the fact that some positive tests are being reported along with antibody testing. What’s worse than conflating antibody tests with virus tests is that the antibody tests are reportedly as high as 50% inaccurate and you might test positive if you’ve had a cold!

Instead of focusing on the actual results of testing clearly showing that the percentage of positive tests continues to decline, the governor wants to continue fanning the flames of panic and fear. He actually wants to see a universal mask policy implemented nationwide. Why? The evidence is clear about how rarely asymptomatic people are spreading infection. Many doctors and medical experts continue to weigh in on how ineffective and potentially dangerous it is to implement masking for everyone in public. I certainly trust the docs writing for the New England Journal of Medicine before the governor’s PR team.

The bottom line is that the evidence is rushing in with all of the testing and reality is setting in. The facts are clear. COVID was simply not as deadly as the world first thought when the pandemic started. All the fear mongering politicians were screaming about testing at the outset. Now that we are testing millions every week, the results are showing that the virus is simply not that deadly for most.

Of course if you were one of the unlucky patients at one of New Jersery’s nursing homes stuck in lockdown while the politicians in Trenton forced positive COVID patients back into those homes, the pandemic looks a bit different. When you remove those patients, mostly preventable deaths, from the equation, the death toll in the US falls in line with an average flu season. Again, you may not want to hear that, but facts are stubborn things, as our former governor was fond of saying.

The question is what will we do going forward? Will we learn from the positive example set by mature leaders who valued economic and civil liberty in places like Sweden? Will we learn from the medical science that shows achieving herd immunity before a vaccine is actually possible? Will we stop the madness of the new word for government control, “safe,” and reject the indefinite social distancing and threats of future lockdowns?

The bottom line is that masks are a ridiculous response to a real health crisis. And COVID isn’t as deadly as the economic and social destruction caused by weak, incompetent politicians who panicked instead of reacting in a thoughtful, mature, science based way. For me, there’s no mask going on my face to restrict my breathing and do nothing to actually keep me healthy. I’m gonna continue to exercise, eat right and live a generally healthy lifestyle. I’m not going to be fooled by politicians who pretend that they have the public’s best interest in mind. Since when have any politicians had your interest in mind instead of their own? This would be a first for sure. Trust what’s coming out of Murphy’s mouth at your own risk.

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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