“The horrifying impact on the world economy threatens the existence of countless people. The consequences on medical care are profound.”
Dr Sucharit Bhakdi (A specialist in microbiology; one of the most cited research scientists in German history)
“We should be asking questions like “How did you find out this virus was dangerous?”, “How was it before?”, “Didn’t we have the same thing last year?”, “Is it even something new?”
Dr Wolfgang Wodarg (A former chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe)
“In Hubei, in the province of Hubei, where there has been the most cases and deaths by far, the actual number of cases reported is 1 per 1000 people and the actual rate of deaths reported is 1 per 20,000. So maybe that would help to put things into perspective.”
Dr Joel Kettner (A former Chief Public Health Officer for Manitoba province and Medical Director of the International Centre for Infectious Diseases)
“If we had not known about a new virus out there, and had not checked individuals with PCR tests, the number of total deaths due to “influenza-like illness” would not seem unusual this year.”
Dr John Ioannidis (A director of the Stanford Prevention Research Center, and co-director of the Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS))
“There is a very good example that we all forget: the swine flu in 2009. That was a virus that reached the world from Mexico and until today there is no vaccination against it. But what? At that time there was no Facebook or there maybe was but it was still in its infancy. The coronavirus, in contrast, is a virus with public relations.”
Dr Yoram Lass (An Israeli former Director General of the Health Ministry)
“We should better integrate the scientific facts into the political decisions.”
Dr Pietro Vernazza (A Swiss physician specialising Infectious Diseases at the Cantonal Hospital St. Gallen)
“Italy has imposed a lockdown and has the opposite effect. They quickly reached their capacity limits, but did not slow down the virus spread within the lockdown.”
Frank Ulrich Montgomery (Former President of the German Medical Association and Deputy Chairman of the World Medical Association)
“The new pathogen is not that dangerous, it is even less dangerous than Sars-1.”
Prof. Hendrik Streeck (A director of the Institute of Virology and HIV Research, at Bonn University)
“The problem of SARS-CoV-2 is probably overestimated, as 2.6 million people die of respiratory infections each year compared with less than 4000 deaths for SARS-CoV-2 at the time of writing.”
Dr Yanis Roussel et. al. (A researcher from the Institut Hospitalo-universitaire Méditerranée Infection, Marseille)
“I am deeply concerned that the social, economic and public health consequences of this near-total meltdown of normal life will be long-lasting and calamitous, possibly graver than the direct toll of the virus itself.”
Dr David Katz (A founding director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center)
“The best alternative will probably entail letting those at low risk for serious disease continue to work, keep business and manufacturing operating, and “run” society, while at the same time advising higher-risk individuals to protect themselves through physical distancing and ramping up our health-care capacity as aggressively as possible.”
Michael T. Osterholm (Regents professor and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota)
“Our main problem is that no one will ever get in trouble for measures that are too draconian. They will only get in trouble if they do too little. So, our politicians and those working with public health do much more than they should do.”
Dr Peter Goetzsche (A professor of Clinical Research Design and Analysis at the University of Copenhagen)
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