WHO discouraging lockdowns. Will Murphy listen?

Even though Gov. Phil Murphy has decided to wave his magic wand and make it possible for us to go back to SOME of the things that make life normal here in New Jersey, it’s just not enough. The old expression “the cure is worse than the disease” is certainly fitting here, and most people I know agree that we’ve done about all we can do in terms of “lockdowns” without completely destroying the economy here in the state.

Most people also agree that the reason that Murphy has extended this lockdown to the extent that he has is to try to make up for the thousands of elderly that died as a result of his decision to put coronavirus-positive patients back into nursing homes.

It’s time for the governor to understand that no amount of locking down is going to make up for the lives lost — and that one more week, one more day, one more minute of keeping us locked down will not do anything except to continue to erode the economy of what was once the great Garden State. So now that the WHO director general, Dr. David Nabarro, came out with his statement saying that lockdowns should not be utilized as the primary means of forestalling the COVID-19 pandemic, will Murphy listen? It’s doubtful.

So far, he has not been transparent about the “science and data“ that has been informing his decisions on who’s locked down and who is not. That only leads me to believe that much of this decision-making is based on Murphy‘s opinion, along with his guilt for the aforementioned thousands who died under his watch.

Nabarro, the World Health Organization’s leading COVID-19 specialist, says he now doubts the efficacy of lockdowns as a primary measure for curbing COVID-19. Shouldn’t Murphy consider that information and open up the state completely? Will he?

The article on Yahoo.com also mentions the Great Barrington Declaration, a petition that multiple epidemiologists and public health scientists have signed, which firmly espouses opposition to lockdowns. It says: "Current lockdown policies are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health.”

Going back to the “cure is worse than the disease” philosophy, Nabarro was quoted in his latest statement, according to the article, as saying “Look what’s happening to poverty levels. It seems that we may well have a doubling of world poverty by next year. We may well have at least a doubling of child malnutrition.”

He also pointed to countries in the Caribbean that have lost their entire tourism industry as well as the effect on other poverty-stricken populations. Murphy has proven time and time again that he does not care about the middle class. But now that poor people are being threatened by his incessant lock down, perhaps he will think twice?

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco. Any opinions expressed are Judi's own.