Ex-NYT reporter Berenson warns of 'big pivot' from officials to Justify Lockdown Strategy
Former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson -- who has quickly become of one of the key figures in a growing movement questioning the strategy to lock down large sections of the country in response to the coronavirus crisis -- is warning of a “big pivot” in rhetoric from politicians and health officials pushing the strategy.
“Yep, the public health folks, after a month of promising that within two weeks we'd be near collapse, are now making the big pivot to the ‘second wave,’” Berenson tweeted, referring to a new talking point he argues will be used to justify continued restrictions.
He tweeted in response to an
Atlantic article -- "Our Pandemic Summer" -- that cited experts who agreed that "life as most people knew it cannot fully return."
"I think people haven’t understood that this isn’t about the next couple of weeks,” one infectious-disease epidemiologist told the outlet. “This is about the next two years.”
The initial sell to Americans about the initial response to the virus was that it would “flatten the curve” -- referring to graphs that showed a predicted aggressive hard spike in infections, hospitalizations and deaths that would devastate the country and overwhelm the health care system.
But Berenson is skeptical there has even been a first wave, and has been a strong critic of the models that had their initial predictions significantly downgraded. He has also pointed to evidence that, outside of hot spots like New York, hospitals are not overburdened.
“It is worth remembering in the United States outside of New York City, and possibly New Orleans and Detroit, there has BEEN NO FIRST WAVE. There have barely even been ripples. That's why the hospitals are empty," he tweeted.
Other critics of the lockdown strategy have also questioned the focus on the second wave.
"What do we do when there’s a second wave? And history says there will likely be a second wave," radio host Jesse Kelly, who has focused on the economic devastation the response is causing, tweeted. If the go to response is go hide under your bed, that’s gonna be a problem when this thing pops back up again. We set ourselves on a dangerous road. I hope I’m wrong."