Covid-19 Dodgy Science, Woeful Ethics

How Little We Know of Science; The Basics of Mathematical Modelling;  The Lack of Science in Epidemiology; The Circularity of ""Fitting"; There is No Such Thing as Good Data; Oh No, It's Exponential! Flatten the Curve!; Getting Off to the Wrong Start with "R"; Catch Me if You Can: The Ever-Changing "R"; Making It Up As You Go Along; Epidemiological QED: Matching Outcomes to Results; Herd Immunity; The Metaphysics of an Epidemic; Before Covid-19, the Scientific Understanding was that Pandemics Cannot be Controlled; The Mistaken Distinction Between 'Flu and Coronavirus Epidemics; The Contradiction Between the WHO's Position on Containment & Travel Bans   

Part 1: What is Epidemiology

• How Little We Know of Science
• The Basics of Mathematical Modelling
• The Lack of Science in Epidemiology
• The Circularity of "Fitting"
• There is No Such Thing as Good Data

Part 2: What the Imperial College Report said

• Oh No, It's Exponential! Flatten the Curve!
• Getting Off to the Wrong Start with "R"
• Catch Me if You Can: The Ever-Changing "R"
• Making It Up As You Go Along
• Matching Outcomes to Results
• Herd Immunity

Part 3: What is a Pandemic

• The Metaphysics of an Epidemic
• Pandemic Containment vs Mitigation 
• The WHO's Deep Confusion Over Covid Transmission 
• Why Pandemic Containment Cannot Work 

Part 4: Exeunt Ventilators, Enter Foucault

• The Mistaken Focus on Ventilators
• Doctors had to Battle Existing Protocols as much as the Disease itself
• The Clinical Trial: A Gold or Gilt standard?
• A Foucauldian Moment for the Medical World
• Questioning "the" Science

Part 5: Old Age & Old Truths Revealed by Covid-19

• Hospitals as Hubs of Disease in Epidemics
• Covid-19 Exposed the Truth about Growing Old in Wealthy Countries
• The Horror of Hospital Isolation
• Traditional Medicine: Eastern Pride & Western Prejudice  

Part 6: The Injustice & Violence of Lockdown

• Do the Math: Covid-19 Hurt the Rich, Containment Hurt the Poor
• India's Lockdown-Induced Migrant Labour Crisis
• Disease Containment as Killer & Kill-Joy
• Discrimination & Disease Control
• Nowhere to Hide 
• The Toxic Culture of Lockdown

Part 7: Discipline & Punish

• The Tablighi Jamaat Affair in India
• The Shincheonji Church Affair in South Korea
• The Myth of the "Super-Spreader"
• Pandemic of Stigma, Racism and Xenophobia 
• The Trail of Death-by-Lockdown
• The Reality of the WHO's "All-of-Society and All-of-Government" Approach to Disease Containment
• Lockdown of Human Rights

Part 8: The Novel Thinking Needed for a Novel Disease

• Are richer countries really healthier or happier than poorer ones
• The lack of experience in the developed world with infectious disease
• Richer countries are not investing as much as we think in their health services
• The longstanding failure with respiratory infections in rich countries
• We should be looking at the poorest, not the richest countries for solutions
• Strength in Numbers
• The Latent Racism in Ideas of "Exponential" Growth

Part 9: Why Not Pharmaceutical Intervention & Other Unanswered Questions

• Why Contain Rather than Cure?
• The Curious Case of ZMapp
• The Curious Case of Hydroxychloroquine
• The Discovery of Penicillin in Happier Times
• Why the Exclusive Focus on Severe Cases?
• Could there be Viral Burn-Out?
• Did China and Italy lockdown after they had peaked?
• Do We Really Know All About How Covid Transmits?

Part 10: Make Love, Not War with the Queen of Viruses

• The Highly Clustered Nature of Covid Transmission
• The Confusion about Case Data and Mortality Rates
• Disease Data is a Quagmire of Estimates
• The Confusion over Testing
• What We Should Have Done 
• What the Experts Need to Do
• Toxic Thinking in Science and Social Science: The Price Exacted by the Neo-Welfare State
• Let's Forget About Covid! 

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