A thread to refute the nonsense spewed by #covid deniers/minimizers...
#1 "It's just the flu"

No, vast majority of studies disagree: https://twitter.com/zorinaq/status/1311764842160644096
#2 "Really, it's just the flu"

Really, no: https://twitter.com/zorinaq/status/1303245440880537601
#3 "Ok COVID is not just the flu, but it only affects the elderly"

No, even age group 25-44 is seriously affected: https://twitter.com/zorinaq/status/1303247761387610112
#4 "There is a @WHO paper by Ioannidis that states the Infection Fatality Ratio is low"

Ioannidis's paper is flawed: https://twitter.com/GidMK/status/1316511734115385344
#5 "But if Ioannidis was right, the IFR would barely be superior to the flu"

No: https://twitter.com/GidMK/status/1328547173282181120
#6 "lockdowns don't work"

Vast majority of peer-reviewed, published science disagrees. NPIs (nonpharmaceutical interventions) do work: https://twitter.com/zorinaq/status/1307723024523616257
#7 "Masks don't work"

70 papers and reviews disagree: https://threader.app/thread/1279144399897866248
A thread written by @nuanceORDEATH

#MASKUP THREAD If someone asks: What's the evidence for mask wearing? Here is a list of *SEVENTY* papers, including reviews/meta-analysis and individual studies, in reverse chronological order....

https://threader.app/thread/1279144399897866248
#8 "Casedemic! Cases increase while deaths don't"

The total case-to-death lag (not just the clinical lag) is often more than a month. This has been repeatedly demonstrated over and over. Ad nauseam. https://twitter.com/zorinaq/status/1319892084250165254
#9 "Deaths have increased so little compared to spring 2020"

Because the case ascertainment rate was low back then: https://twitter.com/zorinaq/status/1319899608881901569
#10 "Sweden has succeeded"

No, Sweden has the highest cumulative deaths per capita (the ultimate metric defining success) of all Nordic countries. About 5 times or 10 times higher.

Finland/Norway/Denmark succeeded. Not Sweden.
https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus-data-explorer?hideControls=true&tab=chart&zoomToSelection=true&country=DNK~FIN~NOR~SWE&region=World&deathsMetric=true&interval=total&perCapita=true&smoothing=0&pickerMetric=location&pickerSort=asc&time=2020-02-13..
Coronavirus Pandemic Data Explorer

Research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems

https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus-data-explorer?hideControls=true&tab=chart&zoomToSelection=true&country=DNK~FIN~NOR~SWE&region=World&deathsMetric=true&interval=total&perCapita=true&smoothing=0&pickerMetric=location&pickerSort=asc&time=2020-02-13
#11 "Sweden had no lockdown"

While they had no formal lockdown, Swedes complied with FHM recommendations and did the social distancing thing

Few know, for example, that 67% of Swedes report working from home from March to September

See full list at https://twitter.com/zorinaq/status/1290041867136978944
#12 "At least Sweden didn't destroy its economy with lockdowns"

Actually they had the sharpest GDP decline of all Nordic countries: https://twitter.com/zorinaq/status/1328093511787315200
#13 "Sweden has no excess death"

Incorrect. The Swedish government officially reported 4800 excess death, so far: https://twitter.com/zorinaq/status/1331682386875084802
#14 "Sweden has a small number of excess deaths"

The Swedish government officially report 4800 excess deaths. And compared to the last 120 years, this is the most excess deaths of any year since the 1918 influenza pandemic: https://twitter.com/zorinaq/status/1332398964142870528
#15 "Lockdowns cause people to miss planned surgeries and routine health screenings"

This occurs even in countries that did not lock down: https://twitter.com/zorinaq/status/1332743135491866624
#16 "The Infection Fatality Ratio has declined dramatically over time"

No, the CFR has, not the IFR: https://twitter.com/zorinaq/status/1329133651129372674
#17 "People who die of COVID would have died in the next 6 months anyway"

No, on average 10 years of life expectancy is lost: https://twitter.com/MaxCRoser/status/1327967978609139713
#18 "PCR tests are unreliable"

No, the “false-positive PCR” problem is not a problem
(Tweet re-posted to fix a typo) https://mobile.twitter.com/MackayIM/status/1330390755316260866
#19 "Sweden has done better than country X"

Apples to oranges. Nordic countries can only be compared to Nordic countries, due to the numerous sociodemographics and environmental variables influencing infections & deaths per capita: https://twitter.com/zorinaq/status/1337521502166548480
#20 "But the dry tinder theory!"

The dry tinder theory has fallen apart since November 2020: https://mobile.twitter.com/zorinaq/status/1327385605819437057
#21 "Sweden has succeeded"

O RLY? https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&time=2020-02-13..latest&country=DNK~FIN~NOR~SWE~ISL&region=World&deathsMetric=true&interval=total&hideControls=true&perCapita=true&smoothing=0&pickerMetric=location&pickerSort=asc
(alt answer to #10)
#22 "Ferguson/Imperial were wrong"

Their papers were correct or plausible:

- correctly predicted UK deaths: https://mobile.twitter.com/zorinaq/status/1311352854326603776

- IFR 0.8-0.9% (most estimates are 0.5-1.0%)

- 1.1-1.2M US deaths WITHOUT lockdowns (currently: 330k deaths WITH them) https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/sph/ide/gida-fellowships/Imperial-College-COVID19-NPI-modelling-16-03-2020.pdf .
#22 "Ferguson/Imperial were wrong"Their papers were correct or plausible:- correctly predicted UK deaths: https://mobile.twitter.com/zorinaq/status/1311352854326603776- IFR 0.8-0.9% (most estimates are 0.5-1.0%)- 1.1-1.2M US deaths WITHOUT lockdowns (currently: 330k deaths WITH them) https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/sph/ide/gida-fellowships/Imperial-College-COVID19-NPI-modelling-16-03-2020.pdf .
#22 "Ferguson/Imperial were wrong"Their papers were correct or plausible:- correctly predicted UK deaths: https://mobile.twitter.com/zorinaq/status/1311352854326603776- IFR 0.8-0.9% (most estimates are 0.5-1.0%)- 1.1-1.2M US deaths WITHOUT lockdowns (currently: 330k deaths WITH them) https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/sph/ide/gida-fellowships/Imperial-College-COVID19-NPI-modelling-16-03-2020.pdf .
You can follow @zorinaq.
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