Lockdowns have caused more harm than good: this is now increasingly emerging from the evidence of data.

Canada is not the only country experiencing this, far from it. Many countries are waking up to the reality of the shutdown and social distancing as a cure which is worse than the disease, and their populations are demonstrating against lockdowns and other restrictions, while several European Courts of Law rule against Covid tests and lockdowns.

But this North American country is a good example to examine because Canada Government official statistical agency, Statistics Canada, has recently published a document entitled “Provisional death counts and excess mortality, January 2020 to April 2021”, released July 12th 2021, whose numbers confirms how badly lockdowns have affected people.

The result of statistical studies have shown that increased mortality during the time of “Covid-19 lockdowns” was produced by the latter part of the expression, not the former, namely by the exceptionally and disproportionately restrictive social measures adopted, more than by the disease itself.

Four times as many Canadians died from effects of the lockdown as from Covid-19 during the period investigated, January 2020 to April 2021.

Causes of 2020 Death Increase in Under-65s

In that time, the report says that 5,535 Canadians younger than 65 died because of “indirect consequences” of the pandemic, as opposed to 1,380 Canadians in the same age group dying of COVID-19 itself.

Among indirect consequences, the study says, are “delayed medical procedures” due to lockdowns leading to cancellation or postponement of medical interventions and vital support services, increase in “substance use and misuse, including unintentional (accidental) poisonings and diseases and conditions related to alcohol consumption”, also provoked by the shutdown.

Furthermore, the number of deaths attributed to Covid-19 were paralleled (caused?) by a decline in deaths attributable to other causes, such as influenza, thus compensating each other in a way that is not really fully understood yet.

Deaths caused by accidental poisonings increase to a new high during the pandemic

The above was one of the headings of the report, which goes on to explain that there is evidence in various parts of Canada that substance use has increased in 2020 compared with previous years, while access to harm reduction programs and in-person support services for substance use have been subject to disruption or reduction during the lockdown.

Deaths from accidental poisoning can apply to recreational substances as well as to excessive prescription or over-the-counter medications. Overall, 3,770 deaths were caused by unintentional poisoning in 2020 against 3,240 in 2019.

In 2020 deaths from drug overdose increased from previous years in various age groups.

The same happened to alcohol-induced mortality, which in 2020 increased among both men and women under the age of 65 in number and rate of deaths to be attributed to diseases and conditions related to the chronic use of alcohol, such as alcoholic liver disease and mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol.

As with deaths attributed to accidental poisoning, the disruption of support programs and services to reduce alcohol use may also have been a factor contributing to the rise in alcohol-induced deaths during the pandemic. For instance, opportunities for in-person support groups may have been reduced due to physical distancing measures. Also, the economic, social, and psychological impacts of the pandemic as well as the public health measures in place may have played a role in increasing alcohol use among some individuals.

Causes of 2020 Death Increase in People Aged 65 and Over

Most of the people who are supposed to have died from COVID-19 in Canada were over the age of 85 and had other illnesses, such as dementia, Alzheimer’s, chronic heart disease or other pre-existing “cardiovascular and respiratory conditions,” the document stated.

“Briefing on the Impact of COVID-19 on Seniors”, a document by Statistics Canada which was published on July 18th 2021, explains:

Increased COVID-19 deaths may be attributable to the disease taking a heavy toll on people who may have been at a high risk of dying over this period, regardless of the pandemic. In addition, the indirect effects of the pandemic, possibly resulting in decreases in the number of deaths attributable to other causes, could also be at play. [Emphasis added]

Effects, Even Deadly, of Economic Crisis and Mental Illness Caused by Lockdown

On the other hand, the elderly have been less – but still – affected by the heavy toll on the health of Canadians taken by the dramatic economic depression created by the lockdown, considered by economists far more serious than even the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

While Canadians were forced to stay at home, many businesses were forced to close.

During that time, Statistics Canada relates that in the winter of 2021, 42% of Canadians under 65 reported that their mental health was worse than before the Covid lockdown, and, albeit to a lesser extent, the same was reported by 31% of Canadians aged 65 and older.

Overall, “One in five Canadians screened positive for symptoms of depression, anxiety or posttraumatic stress disorder” (from “Survey on COVID-19 and Mental Health, September to December 2020”, published by Statistics Canada on March 18th 2021).

We know that clinical depression and other mental issues can lead to suicide.

Conclusion

Covid-19 lockdowns were an immediate, quasi knee-jerk reaction by governments to the pandemic alarm, not carefully thought out in their consequences and lending too much credence to epidemiological models which had already shown through decades their unreliability and false assumptions.

Past errors are impossible to remedy by going back in time, but moving forward we can take lessons from them and change course.

In short, we need to return to normality, but definitely not establish this nightmare we’ve been living through as the “new normal”.

PHOTO CREDIT
Image by Queven from Pixabay
HAT TIP to https://blogs.mercola.com/sites/vitalvotes/archive/2021/08/01/more-canadians-under-65-died-from-lockdowns-than-from-covid19.aspx