Who is Following the Science? More States Roll Back Covid Restrictions
Recently, Gov. Abbot of Texas announced that he is rescinding his statewide mask mandate effective March 10, 2021. This will allow communities and individuals to make health-related choices.
On Monday March 8, 2021, Gov. Mark Gordon of Wyoming also declared the ending of statewide mask mandates and lockdown orders. However, elementary and high schools will still have the mandate in effect.
As of March 9, 2021, several states are leveling back coronavirus restrictions. West Virginia, Arizona, and Connecticut have moved to reopen the economy to 100% and to end business occupancy restrictions.
In the same vein, Nature, a premier natural sciences scholarly journal, recently published a study that “has suggested that staying at home did not play a dominant role in reducing COVID-19 transmission.”
The authors acknowledging that, “Some mathematical models and meta-analyses have shown a marked reduction in COVID-19 cases and deaths associated with lockdown policies.” However, according this study, the scientists admit, “We were not able to explain the variation of deaths/million in different regions in the world by social isolation, herein analyzed as differences in staying at home, compared to baseline.”
While this study does not prove that lockdowns did not work, it illustrates that different models can have different results. When someone in authority claims, “the science says…,” informed citizens need to be aware that science is not a monolithic enterprise. (See a discussion on the philosophy of science published at Crit-Large here.)
According to Patrick Hawley of the National File, “[The] CDC illegally inflated the COVID fatality number by at least 1,600 percent as the 2020 presidential election played out….” Hawley references research from October 2020 published in Science, Health Policy, and The Law.
The question needs to be asked: Who is ‘following the science?’ Furthermore, what is science and how does it provide prescriptive standards for society? These questions are not easy. However, as citizens in a scientific Age of Information, we can either be informed or be deceived. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge,” (Hosea 4:6).
