Tilting At Windmills

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Biden Takes Office And The Rules On COVID change

tomknighton.substack.com

Biden Takes Office And The Rules On COVID change

Tom Knighton
Jan 22, 2021
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Biden Takes Office And The Rules On COVID change

tomknighton.substack.com

Now, I’m not generally a conspiratorially-minded person. I think a lot of things that look like conspiracies are either individual bad actors who just look like they’re part of a conspiracy or individuals who are just so incompetent, it looks like malice.

But sometimes it’s really, really hard not to look at something and think conspiracy.

Like, for example, the new rules for counting COVID-19 cases.

In short, the new rules require two PCR tests and accompanying symptoms. In other words, those people who test positive but show no symptoms will no longer be counted.

Now.

And the new rules were rolled out on inauguration day.

What that means is that new rules will impact the number of COVID cases during Biden’s presidency, driving them down even if there’s absolutely no change in actual infection rates.

Now, to me, that’s a problem.

It’s not that the World Health Organization changed how any of this works. No, that’s part of medicine. You should always reevaluate what you’re doing to make sure it works.

No, the issue to me is the timing.

There’s no secret that Donald Trump and the WHO didn’t see eye-to-eye. Trump was antagonistic to the agency, pulling the United States out.

So, the day he leaves office, they trot out new rules that will result in lower numbers of infection being reported—rules that the Biden administration will likely direct U.S. healthcare providers to follow as he signs the nation back into the WHO—and I’m supposed to believe it’s just coincidence?

Well, maybe it is.

It’s absolutely possible that all of this really did just fall this way accidentally. It’s definitely not impossible to imagine it working out this way.

However, it’s important to remember these changes. Why? Because we will soon be hearing about how much better of a job Biden did in stopping the spread of COVID, all with nary a mention of how the procedures changed.

We’ll hear about how he beat COVID when Trump couldn’t, but it’ll be disingenuous codswallop.

You see, first, there will be some people who will get tested, get the positive, and call it good enough. They work from home so they don’t need a negative test to return to work. There’s no reason to get a second test for them.

Then there are those who were legitimately sick but waited long enough for their first test that they’ll be negative by the time they get their second test. By these new rules, they won’t count as COVID cases.

Finally, you’ll have those who are asymptomatic but get tested because they know they were exposed. They may test positive twice, but all without showing the first symptom. Results from Iceland show that as many as half of all people who contract COVID-19 never show a symptom. Even if those numbers are higher than the true average, it still shows that a number of people won’t meet the new criteria.

And yet, they still count as infected under previous guidelines.

Because of this, the number of official cases will drop. Even conscientious journalists will report on the significant drop in total cases, not because they’re intentionally trying to carry water for the Biden administration, but because they won’t realize the change was made.

And since conscientious journalists are the minority in our national media these days, well…

That’s really where my issues lie. As I said, changing protocols to meet the ever-changing needs is part of what science and medicine should be doing. Yet the timing is concerning.

Let’s just wait and see if maybe, just maybe, the media will look at this critically and at least wonder why a sudden drop.

Or, worse, ask why there hasn’t been any drop.

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Biden Takes Office And The Rules On COVID change

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