It would be interesting to see a critique of this podcast from health authorities in UK and Europe who are advocating the lockdowns, masks etc. that Ivor thinks are ineffective and unnecessary. Can it really be true that one Irish industrial chemist is correct and the WHO, The European centre for Disease Prevention and Control, The Robert Koch Institute, The Institut Pasteur, The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and many more have all got it wrong?
Some good points that I am not qualified to answer, but will try and give an opinion on. Your questions are the sort that in a studio with 30 seconds to answer would not be possible to reply to, in the same way that a higher cholesterol is not necessarily heart disease.
Before posting I checked Euromomo, sliced and diced the numbers using the filters and I also reviewed Worldometer. Baring a massive fraud, the numbers follow the pattern of the hump, quieter time and then a resurgence in the winter season. I am trying to be careful with my language as over a million have died, which is entirely the fault of the disease.
Ivor is not alone: (
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/502857-covid-scientists-against-lockdown/)
"More than 7,000 top scientists and doctors have signed a declaration calling for politicians to reconsider their entire approach to Covid, and to adopt a herd immunity strategy. Why didn’t this happen seven months ago?" I think it would be fair to say they are not conspiracists or crack pots, just a differing alternative.
Some of the above if not the majority, have the same qualifications and experience as those who make the decisions, in the big organisations. I often appeal to authority, but the playbook of the big names falls on deaf ears with me, such as the ADA, PHE, NICE, BHF, etc – they would all happily have left me to have gone on insulin, eaten heart healthy whole grains, you know the rest.
I recall listening to an Australian dietitian or nutritutionalist within the last 6 months (can't remember what her qualification was), anyway she sent a question to 100 members of her profession and over 90% said they would not try a low carb diet for those they look after (in the context of type 2 diabetes). The point I am making is that I tend to back where the rubber hits the road rather than the establishment view – is this not the raison d'etre of this website.
If your gonna do a lock down you have to do it in the Singapore style manner with military precision and have a test and trace system that off the shelf works.
If you going to go for herd immunity then the Swedish model with tweaks, I feel is attractive. The tweaks being from the beginning protecting the most vulnerable (properly) and having a world class system of support. Trying to understand what the differences are between those who do better and the not so well and mitigating this. So diet (not necessarily lc / keto), but the foods and drinks consumed during lockdown would not have helped the immune system - give people a chance to make informed decisions with no food politics) I believe this method causes the least harm to people and the economy. The points about long Covid are valid, but I believe of a similar level to the experience I used to have when I used to get colds / man flu that hung around for weeks and months sometimes - I reckon most people have experienced that type of cold (not comparing colds to Covid, just the long term symptons I have experienced pre 5 years ago).
Obviously speaking with a lot of hindsight, but the “experts” have seen the gompertz curve many times, so everything Ivor said around April seems sound.
I see the below more of a adjunct. Imagine if the advice even Dr Hillary backed was followed. It takes around 3 weeks to make a potentially lifesaving difference. Whilst it is wishful thinking perhaps that people would swap favourites for healthier options, if only we could make the host more resilient, surely better outcomes would follow.