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Author: FirstAmount0

So, to my knowledge, no one has done a write-up on the batshit insane history of the Beach Boys and the various inter-politics of band-members that extends to their fanbase, which is why I'm doing this now. I don't really use Reddit so excuse any formatting errors, I'm not entirely sure how to use italics on this thing, but I feel this story is worth sharing anyways.
Okay, let's start with the basics, the Beach Boys are a classic rock band most famous for being pioneers of surf-rock. They didn't invent the genre but they were one of the earliest commercially successful surf-rock bands to have vocals, basically cementing the vocal-jazz/doo-wop sound vocal style that's all over the genre. The band was formed by the three Wilson brothers (Brian, Carl and Dennis), their cousin Mike Love and their childhood friend Al Jardine. Brian Wilson was the group's leader, writing all of their songs and eventually producing their records, with Mike Love functioning as the group's lyricist and arguably their lead vocalist (all of the members sung lead but Mike didn't play any instruments so he tended to sing lead a bit more often to give him shit to do on stage). This was how the group functioned from the early 60s until 1964.
Here's where the issue begins, for various reasons (largely due to having a panic attack on an airplane) Brian Wilson decides that touring and surf rock sucks complete ass, and that he'd rather innovate in the studio. A solution is agreed upon where Brian will write and record in Los Angeles for most of the year as the other Beach Boys tour, occasionally stopping back in Los Angeles to provide vocals on the instrumentals that Brian cooked up. Lyrics are to be provided by Brian, although he eventually elects to just hire other lyricists. To make up for his absence they recruit another musician named Bruce Johnston to tour with them, who eventually just joins the band.
So Brian gets more studio time, drifts away from surf-rock and eventually rock altogether, discovers psychedelics and records some of the greatest records of all time. "Pet Sounds", the Beach Boys fourth album to be recorded in these circumstances, is largely considered the band's masterpiece and consistently ranks near the top of most "Greatest Albums of All Time" charts (it's currently #2 on Rolling Stone's list, for example). It's really incredible psychedelic pop, genuinely a fantastic record and one absolutely worth listening to in full ("Wouldn't It Be Nice" was used in a Fallout advertisement a few years ago and got some attention because of it, "God Only Knows" was performed Bioshock Infinite by a barbershop quartet, I think Reddit likes these sort of things, they're also just very famous songs in general). There's some other material recorded around here that's also fantastic but is not necessary to understand this post.
These albums were weird, and they were critically acclaimed, but they weren't as successful as past Beach Boys albums (at least not in America, they sold fantastically in the UK). After one of them was cancelled near its completion ("SMiLE", an album with it's own insane fan history I may write-up later) the band became significantly less successful, Brian Wilson became reclusive and the power in the band generally shifted to the other members.
For the most part, this has been true since 1971. Brian has come back a few times, most notably in 1977 with "Love You" (a very weird but very good early synth-pop album), but a history of mental health issues prevented him from ever fully returning and the power in the band gradually shifted over to Mike Love. Here's the thing though, Mike Love is an asshole.
Mike Love's many faults are too long to list here, but to put it plainly he's a money-grubbing Reagan-Republican jackass who trampled Brian's creative vision to push the band back towards its surf-rock roots, in the process creating some of the worst records of all time. The Mike Love-helmed Beach Boys albums must be what the Beach Boys sound like to people who hate them, they're truly dreadful. In the mid-90s he somehow got the rights to tour under the Beach Boys' name, and has been doing so consistently since.
This is where the fans split. To those who consider themselves fans of the Beach Boys there are two general mindsets: one that considers Mike Love to be the antichrist and one that doesn't. Can you guess which side I'm on? To those who prefer the Beach Boys' experimental works, he's a greedy businessman ruining the band's legacy, but those who prefer their surf-rock tend to be more in favor of the guy. This split is largely across political lines too, Mike fans tend to be more right-wing and Brian fans tend to be more left-wing.
Many arguments are had over the merits of these two sides of the band. As Reddit leans younger, more tech-savvy and more left-wing, thebeachboys is mostly in favor of Brian, but on Facebook it seems way more violent. If you search for concert footage of Mike Love's "Beach Boys" and contrast it with Brian Wilson's solo touring it's apparent what types of crowds they're playing to.
Now, some Beach Boys fans are bipartisan and that shouldn't be left unstated, but this is certainly true for the majority of them. This is where our most recent issue comes to play.
So a few weeks ago on New Year's Eve, after Trump lost the election but before he was out of office, he held a party at his Mar-a-Lago resort and the Beach Boys performed at it alongside Vanilla Ice. "The Beach Boys" in question were Mike Love and a handful of touring musicians but no other members, not even Bruce Johnston who is a republican and has toured with Mike before. To say this caused a shitstorm would be an understatement.
Beach Boys fans are insecure about many things and I'll be the first to admit that, "Pet Sounds" pretty directly inspired the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's" and yet the Beatles and the Beach Boys are often considered to be in different leagues which Beach Boys fans don't really like. One thing that fans of Brian are particularly insecure about is "The Beach Boys" being used when referencing Mike Love's touring band. You can bet that when dozens of articles from major news publications come out about "The Beach Boys" performing at Trump's mask-less party in the middle of a pandemic that these fans would be fucking pissed. And they were.
This was easily the most active I've seen Beach Boys fans in awhile, especially on Twitter where just about every tweet about the matter had a dozen Beach Boys fans underneath it clarifying that Brian had absolutely no connection to the concert. In a rare move for him, Brian (or at least his social media team) came out to condemn Mike Love for playing a mask-less concert in the middle of a pandemic to support a man who was voted out of office and wouldn't admit it. Al Jardine, another Beach Boys’ member who regularly tours with Brian agreed, and former Beach Boys’ collaborators had some more colorful things to say (including Van Dyke Parks, the lyricist for Brian’s “SMiLE” project who has pretty regularly shit-talked Mike Love over the years).
While this wasn’t the first controversy surrounding where Mike Love’s touring band choose to play concerts, there was a similar controversy a few months ago when they performed at a party for Trump’s re-election in October and another one back in February when they performed at a Safari Club (Brian Wilson is very strongly in favor of animal rights), but this was truly the last straw. Bipartisanship is nearly impossible to maintain with the current politics of band members, and while a true reunion of the band has been discussed to occur sometime later this year (or whenever quarantine lifts) it seems considerably unlikely. The band, the real band with Brian participating, is probably just over forever now. You'll still be able to see Mike Love's bastardization of "the Beach Boys", and you'll still be able to see Brian tour (and Al too, probably) with his incredibly superior backing band, but the true Beach Boys are done.
I, and I assume many others, have found some hope though. The sheer amount of backlash seems to show that the Beach Boys’ legacy hasn’t been ruined, that Brian’s experimental music has been and will continue to be properly appreciated, and that attempts to destroy with this boomer surf-rock garbage have ultimately failed. It’s nice to know, but we can’t really be sure for now. Knowing Mike Love, he’ll pull some more shit.
I don’t really know how to end Reddit posts but if any of you want a real belly-laugh I suggest you check out Mike Love’s 2017 double-album “Unleash the Love”, specifically its second disc which consists of re-recordings of classic Beach Boys songs. I don’t want to spoil it but pay attention to the vocals, they’re uhhh kinda hard to miss.
And if you want some good music to listen to, listen to Pet Sounds! It’s seen as a masterpiece for a reason. If you’ve already listened to it, then listen to their other stuff like “Friends” and “Wild Honey”. That “SMiLE” album I’ve mentioned a few times in this post was eventually released in like 2011 as “The Smile Sessions” and it’s fucking mesmerising, really worth a listen. Get involved with the Beach Boys fan community too, speaking for the Brian-side of the group there’s a lot of really good and really talented people working hard to preserve the band’s legacy. Brian’s current touring band actually consists of a bunch of Beach Boys fans (namely Darian Sahanaja, the main organiser) who were able to perfectly replicate the very complex arrangements of Brian’s songs live.
So yeah, that’s all. Have a good one, listen to the Beach Boys, and don’t be like Mike Love.
Edit/Author's Note: Just to be safe, I added a couple sentences to show that all of this did have consequences as to follow Rule 10. Didn't really impact the pacing or the point, just emphasized what's at stake in a clearer way. Also, you've all been super cool in the comments, very nice to see people who've decided to check out Pet Sounds after this. I know "thx fer de updoots" is a fucking meme but it's nice how welcoming you all are, I'll probably do a write-up on the history of SMiLE and all of the bootlegs people did sometime in the next couple weeks. Okay, author's note over.

I have no horse in the GME "fight" right now. I wish you all the best, and it is the biggest trading mistake of my life so far. I was talking about GME with my friends in March 2020, and even did trade some options then for a loss. I must have read DFV at some point, as we were discussing Burry and a "technical short squeeze" happening. But I missed the real boat, so good on DFV and all of the rest of you degenerates.
Instead, I focused my market attention during quarantine on precious metals. My opinion is that in the long term (10+ years) they will provide the only real hedge against inflation in the world as every CB on the planet is exploding the supply of fiat to deal with COVID economic disruption.
In the short term, I believe that the "powers that be" are engineering the largest short squeeze in the history of markets. We do not have the power to effect whether this happens, it is simply an inevitability. HFs, banks, and other large institutions are going to extract an enormous amount of wealth from the world during this squeeze. This money will be taken from the future pocket of every consumer of industrial goods for the next several decades in the form of inflated prices on everything: batteries, electronics, solar panels, EVs...even jewelry and silverware.
We cannot stop them, but I have decided to try to hop on for the ride. The last few months aside, I never saw WSB as a force for societal change, because the people who control the money are always going to win the most in the end. WSB is a place where we can learn the tricks of a market that is structurally rigged against us, and use those tricks to our advantage. To use an analogy that I think we all know: I am not, and will never be, Ender. But I can learn that the Enemy's Gate is Down, and play The Game that way.
The tl;dr is this: the market for silver is the most manipulated physical market in the history of the world. $SLV is the vehicle that is currently being used behind the scenes to vaccum up ownership of every available physical bar of silver in major bullion vaults in the world. When it has completed doing that, the "paper" markets that have held down the price of silver for decades will become disconnected from the physical markets. The energy that has been artificially held back for decades by this paper will explode the price of physical silver, and I have no idea how high it will go. $SLV will stand (mostly) alone as the world's exchange traded product for electronic trading of physical silver.

LET'S START AT THE BEGINNING: WHY IS SILVER IMPORTANT?

Silver has been used as real currency for thousands of years, and there is an argument to be made for returning to "sound" money through the use of silver and gold. However, that is not the argument that I am making.
Silver is a highly industrial metal, and it's usage for industry will only continue to expand as we electrify the future. Silver is important for electrical applications b/c it is the most-conductive / least-resistive metal in the universe (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_resistivity_and_conductivity#Resistivity_and_conductivity_of_various_materials). It is used heavily in all electronic applications (even more since RoHS has pushed us away from Tin/Lead and towards Tin/Silver solder blends, with silver being added to mitigate the longevity problems of 100% Tin solder growing Tin whiskers and shorting out components). But the largest new demands on silver are going to come from solar panels and EVs. Utility-scale solar is now virtually tied with wind as the cheapest new sources of energy in the world and is only getting cheaper every year. As fossil fuel plants continue to reach the end of their service life, they are going to be replaced with solar and wind technologies. As EVs become more prevalent, their components (ESPECIALLY their batteries) will produce additional demand for Silver.
As smart investors are wont to do, this coming demand for industrial silver has been front-run and large quantites of silver have been sucked into investment products so that they can produce financial returns when demand begins to increase. 2020 showed remarkable investor interest in silver, to the tune of an estimated 350Mtoz moving into exchange traded products like $SLV. $SLV alone added ~200Mtoz of silver to it's holdings in 2020.
Unfortunately for the market, supply cannot meet demand: Of the 930.9Mtoz estimated for 2020 demand, only 236Mtoz was available for physical investment, because the rest was consumed by industrial uses. This means that $SLV alone absorbed almost the entire world's capacity for silver investment in 2020, and as you'll see soon, this is only accelerating in 2021.
Source for demand/supply/investment numbers: https://www.silverinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SilverInstitute2020InterimPR.pdf

LETS GET PHYSICAL, PHYSICAL

Now it's important to understand that huge amounts of "silver" is traded on "paper" markets, and these markets have historically decided the approximate cost of physical silver in the world, in the form of the "spot price". I'm not going to give anyone a primer on how this works, go read about the London Fix and COMEX paper on your own time. But the important thing to know is that there are a bunch of silver bars in vaults in London and in the U.S., and electronic claims on them are traded on the LBMA and COMEX continuously, without the silver ever leaving the vaults.
However, these vaults have concrete numbers of physical bars in them, and trading contracts against them technically means that you can show up at a window somewhere and demand your 5x 1000oz bars that a COMEX warrant entitle you to. This redemption happens all the time, and it can be used to extract physical silver from the unallocated storage at bullion vaults and release it to industrial or consumer bullion uses. However, these bars can also be moved into "registered" or "allocated" accounts without them leaving the overall vault storage. This means that a quantity of individual silver bars that an owner holds title to can be physically moved inside the vault onto a different rack, and the owner has individual serial numbers of bars that they own. These bars can be withdrawn on demand only by their owner and are not available for general redemption of a COMEX warrant.
So how many bars are there? Well between LBMA and COMEX, there are 1480.3Mtoz sitting in vaults (sources below when I start doing math). This includes all allocated AND unallocated bars. Now, obviously London and NY are separated by an ocean, but people always like to bring up that bars could be moved b/w London <-> American COMEX vaults. This is an enormous undertaking, but let's make a "spherical chicken in a vaccuum" level assumption and say that LBMA + COMEX vaults are a singular source of inventory for both $SLV and other market participants.
If you read the $SLV S-1 (which I did: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1330568/000119312505127244/ds1.htm) you would learn that the custodian of the $SLV trust is required to hold all silver weight (with an exception for 1100toz of unallocated, lol) that is owned by the trust in allocated accounts, where the individual bars are physically segregated inside the vaults, and the serial numbers of the owned bars are explicitly recorded. The idea that there is "no physical silver" backing the SLV trust and "you could get settled with cash" is ridiculous. iShares publishes a report listing every serial number of every bar that is owned by the trust, along with the total weight contained in the bars. It is 10847 pages long (you can read it here if you have trouble sleeping at night: https://emea-markets.jpmorgan.com/metalicsWebAppJanus/publicUnauthenticated/BONY_SLV.pdf) and is updated frequently.
The underlying silver is owned by the trust. It cannot be removed from the trust unless "baskets" of 50000 shares are redeemed by an "Authorized Participant" which is only a few large brokers. It cannot be removed by the bullion vaults and given to other customers because it is physically segregated inside the vaults.
People who have recently beaten down the idea of a silver squeeze love to talk about how JP Morgan is the custodian for the SLV trust. And because JPM just paid a $1B fine for historical manipulation of the paper silver market, they aren't going to be honest about this. This is crazy talk.
When it comes to the dishonesty of a big bank, there is "fraud" and there is FRAUD. "Fraud" would be them saying "Oh sorry, we didn't realize that a laundromat bringing in $300k/week of dirty dollar bills was out of the ordinary". "Fraud" happens all the time, and the banks get away with it regularly. FRAUD would be them saying "Oh yes, 3rd party customer (iShares) who services dozens of other large banking institutions in the world, here is objective evidence, with serial numbers, that we have these silver bars in the vault" and then just making up the data. It is QANON-level crazy, IMHO, to think that JPM is going to commit FRAUD by publishing a list of serial numbers that is completely fake.
I believe the exact opposite: since they have just gotten caught, they are playing it straight this time and have just switched sides in order to go long. On the COMEX alone, JP Morgan Chase is long 193.9Mtoz, or just north of $5B.
(COMEX depository data by weight: https://www.cmegroup.com/delivery_reports/Silver_stocks.xls)
The problem for the futures and options markets is that their continual trading of paper contracts is chasing a smaller and smaller amount of physical silver that is not owned by $SLV. And the market participants (minus, now, JPM) who have gotten away with naked selling of paper contracts and mostly settling them for cash are going to soon find the underlying vaults empty and no metal to give to warrant holders who come looking for it.

HOW BIG OF A PROBLEM IS $SLV FOR THE NAKED SHORTS IN THE PAPER MARKET? LET'S DO SOME MATH.

$SLV inventory math:
$SLV is holding 669,357,789.40 troy ounces in trust, and has 720,500,000 shares outstanding.
(If you are curious why $SLV/share trades below the spot price, it's because: 669.4Mtoz / 720.5M shares = .929 toz / share)
($SLV data from here: https://www.ishares.com/us/products/239855/ishares-silver-trust-fund?qt=SLV#/ )
(screenshot from tonight for posterity: https://imgur.com/a/0sqcMFr)
Bullion vault inventory math:
London (LBMA) silver stocks are 1080.5Mtoz (http://www.lbma.org.uk/london-precious-metals-physical-holdings-statistics)
US COMEX silver stocks are 399.8Mtoz (https://www.cmegroup.com/delivery_reports/Silver_stocks.xls)
669.4/(1080.5 + 399.8) = 45.2% of the vaulted silver in the world is already owned by SLV
Subtracting what SLV already owns, leaves us with: (1080.5 + 399.8) - 669.4 = 810.9Mtoz
(This is completely ignoring the fact that a lot of that remaining silver is owned in registered or allocated accounts by individual owners. E.g. there is 150.2Mtoz in "registered" on the COMEX which means those bars are already specifically deeded to an individual owner. But they could theoretically sell it to SLV so I included it as available.)
810.9Mtoz is the ABSOLUTE THEORETICAL MAXIMUM available in LBMA + COMEX silver that is not already owned by SLV.
Now how short are the shorts? Some more math:
OI on COMEX futures: https://www.cmegroup.com/trading/metals/precious/silver-futures-and-options.html

+ 179786*5000toz + 130402*5000toz + 8245*1000toz + 1903*2500toz ---------------- 1,563,942,500 = 1563.9Mtoz 

in currently open interest that could be demanded for delivery. Just on the COMEX, there could be demand for twice as much silver as there is in the combined LBMA + COMEX vaults that is not explicitly owned by $SLV right now.
Caveats:

• I have not included any London futures contracts that may have claims on metal here. I am not versed in their contracts at all and don't have a good data source right now. If anyone knows how to calculate the short obligation for London I would be glad to add it.
  
• I have not analyzed any of the strike prices on COMEX options or dates on COMEX futures...some of them could be way out of the money or way in the future. Many silver producers sell futures years in advance to lock in prices, and then deliver the physical to satisfy the contracts.
  

Using the same basic methodology–total shorts divided by shares [toz in this case] outstanding–as is used on a stock to calculate short interest (and gave us the infamous 140% short interest on GME) we get......drumroll please:
1563.9 short / 810.9 physical = 192.9% short interest.
OPEN INTEREST ON COMEX SILVER FUTURES AND OPTIONS IS EQUIVALENT TO A 192.9% SHORT INTEREST AGAINST ALL LONDON AND U.S. AVAILABLE INVENTORY.
But it gets even worse.

WANNA ADD A GAMMA SQUEEZE??

I pulled the data for all current OI in SLV options. There is a large number (5.7 million) of call contracts open (here are the totals: https://imgur.com/tiqPA34)
Using the .929toz/share number, we can calculate that there are up to 527.2Mtoz that would have to be bought during an absolute runaway Gamma Squeeze. Call options on $SLV max out right now at $55, so the spot price would only have to increase by around 122% to reach the point that all of that weight would need to have been purchased. But at some point, it could become self-reinforcing, and the gamma squeeze continues to cause more gamma squeezing.
I believe that this almost happened Sunday evening (2021-01-31) as evidenced by the huge premium that $SLV was trading to the futures price for a few minutes when trading opened. (My comparison chart: https://i.imgur.com/UPjL3zm.png)
The Silver ETF that trades on Sunday in Tel Aviv (https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/TCHF82:IT) closed up >6% (and was consistenly rising for the entire session) before any american spot markets opened. I believe that hedging algorithms at MM firms that write options saw this spike as a need to buy shares in $SLV to cover their deltas, and so they bought the opening of $SLV like crazy. $SLV opened up 17.6%, while paper only opened up about 6%. Paper market players had to sell 23.8Mtoz of paper in the first minute of trading to keep the price under control. I have never seen an imbalance like this before, and it was covered up quickly (within 2 hours of trading). But to me, it sounds like Vincent's heartbeat monitor in GATTACA when he runs out of fake signal: there was a cover up required to hide this explosion.
When the day comes that this cover up is not executed properly, stuff is going to get ugly, b/c $SLV won't just gamma squeeze like a normal stock...

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! A TRADITIONAL GAMMA/SHORT SQUEEZE WILL SEEM LIKE NOTHING IN SILVER

The squeeze in silver will be FAR WORSE than the combination of a gamma and short squeeze in a stock, because shares of stock cannot be removed from the market. Eventually somebody holding $VW or $GME is going to say "sure, I'll sell at $42,000.69 per share" and that share can go back to cover a short. But if instead of doing that, the holder of that share withdrew it from the market by converting it to a physical token b/c they thought that the physical token would be more valuable than the share (the retail premium on physical silver vs. paper silver), the short interest would INCREASE as shares were converted into tokens. And since there are currently more "shares" of silver than there are bars of silver in the vault, the shorts can be caught with a literally illiquid market that has nothing to buy.
Zero. Zilch. No silver available.
The doomsday scenario (for paper silver holders and writers) is the following combination:

• holders of COMEX warrants will see the rising premium of physical bullion to the spot price and decide to redeem their warrants for physical
  
• a rising spot price will Gamma Squeeze the writers of $SLV options into buying more shares in a runaway fashion and the trust will absorb all available vault inventory as it issues new shares
  

COMEX warrant holders who try to demand metal that doesn't exist will literally break the market.
The CBOE will probably step in and decide to force settle the contracts for cash at the last known good price, and COMEX paper warrants will cease trading forever.
The physical market price will then be disconnected from the paper market, and $SLV as an exchange traded product will stand (mostly) alone as the new "paper" market for silver.

SO WTF DO I DO? [NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE]

Well I could always buy physical silver, if I can stomach the premium and wait 8 weeks for it to show up. Or, I could just get long on $SLV. Since I believe that $SLV will stand alone after the dust settles as the one true claim on bars in the vaults, I could be long the actual $SLV ticker in several ways:

• Buying shares (duh, but it worked for $GME)
  
• Buying long dated calls (Gamma Squeeze go BRRRRR, but who knows when)
  
• Buying option spreads (my personal favorite)
  

If I wanted to maximize my contribution to the Gamma Squeeze, I'd probably buy as much Delta/$ as I could get using weeklies, which would be 2/5 $26.5C or 2/12 $28C
(Max delta/$ calculations: https://i.imgur.com/Az3o85v.png and https://i.imgur.com/eRPQo6k.png)
Current open positions for me are: (https://imgur.com/vWZrziG)

• Jan'22 50/55 call spread (costs .17, moonshot pays $5, 29x)
  
• 4/16 40/55 call spread (costs .18, moonshot pays $15, 83x)
  
• 2/5 $26.5 call (to maximize delta/$)
  
• jan'22 $40 call (to minimize risk of missing the big one)
  
• $AG shares and jan'23 10/35 call spread (added, sorry i forgot this one: https://imgur.com/fz80V6J)
  

Footnote, all the pictures I think I used, in case i missed something: https://imgur.com/a/0sqcMFr

I see this question asked many, many times, and I would like to provide an answer. I'm sure this is not the only answer, and those who are stranded each has a personalised answer.
Here's what happened in March 2020. On the 17th, government urged Australians overseas to return home if they "wish to return". The government also said "If you’re overseas and can’t or don’t want to return to Australia, follow the advice of local authorities." (https://web.archive.org/web/20200317111413/https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/news-and-updates/coronavirus-covid-19).
This announcement was followed by airlines cancelling flights, news of Australians stranded overseas, and Government acknowledging the difficulty for these people to get to Australia.
2020-03-17: Australian airlines offer credit for cancelled flights as routes slashed amid coronavirus:

The national carrier announced on Tuesday that 90% of international flights and 60% of domestic flights will be cancelled from the end of the month until the end of May, and Virgin is widely tipped to follow suit within days.

2020-03-18: 'I just want to go home': thousands of Australians stranded overseas amid coronavirus chaos:

"Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) has advised all Australians to return home as soon as possible on commercial flights, but has conceded that for some getting back is currently impossible."
Guardian Australia has been contacted by dozens of Australians caught overseas: in Kenya, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, the US, UK, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Hungary, even en route to Antarctica, seeking passage home.
Chris Selman, a 50-year-old engineer from Perth, is in Anchorage, Alaska, which is “about as far from home as it is possible to be”. He has struggled to change his flights, and has had no communication from airlines, spending more than four hours on hold before giving up.
He said the Australian government’s call for citizens to return was “sensible overall, but the suddenness is troubling and will place more strain on travel”.

2020-03-19: Qantas to cease international flying, tells majority of workforce to take leave:

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Qantas Airways Ltd QAN.AX said on Thursday it will halt all international flights from late March until at least the end of May and is putting two-thirds of its workforce on leave after Australia told citizens not to travel overseas due to the coronavirus.

2020-03-20: Australia Travel Ban: This Is What It Means, As Tasmania–Former Island Prison–Puts Up Bars:

The move is leaving thousands of Australians stranded overseas. Many are caught in a no-mans land between snowballing travel bans in countries in which they are traveling, and the Australian government's call for them to return home immediately.
Something which has become increasingly hard to do since national carrier Qantas announced it was halting all international flights from the end of March and Virgin Australia too grounds its international fleet. (Qantas is offering refunds in the form of flight credit until March 31 for all domestic and international travel booked up to May 31).

2020-03-20: Thousands of Australians stranded overseas as countries close borders over Covid-19 fears:
2020-03-25: Time running out for Australians stranded overseas by coronavirus as airlines ground planes:

Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia have all announced they will be halting their international flights from the end of March, along with many foreign airlines.
The foreign minister, Marise Payne, has urged all citizens abroad to make their way back via commercial airlines but admits not everyone will be able to make it home.
“It may be necessary for some Australians to stay where they are overseas, and as far as practicable remain safe and comfortable,” she said.
Payne says the government will consider supporting Australian airlines to operate non-scheduled services to help return Australian in countries with few commercial travel options, but only if local governments allow it.
She also ruled out the possibility of charted rescue flights.
“We do not have plans for assisted departures, such as those conducted to the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak, Wuhan in China and Japan,” said Payne

2020-03-27: Australians trapped in India's coronavirus lockdown fear running out of food and water:

There are no commercial flights permitted in or out of India until at least 15 April, and Australians fear they will not be able to get home without a government-sponsored repatriation flight, which are being allowed by India’s government.

2020-03-27: Overseas arrivals to Australia to be quarantined in hotels for two weeks over coronavirus:

Morrison said the government continued to help Australians who “have found themselves, through no fault of their own, isolated”, citing its chartered flights from Peru, South America, Hawaii and the United States.
Morrison said it “is the job of the government” to help return or support the 20,000 who remain overseas.
But he warned that Australians who “have had an opportunity [to return] and – even more amazingly, those who continued to leave the country, even after a do not travel advice was given, then I don’t think they could expect their follow Australians to think that the Australian government would be having them high on the list of the people we need to go and support”.

2020-03-31: 'There are food shortages': thousands of Australians stuck abroad amid coronavirus plead for help to get home
2020-04-03: British Airways cancels flights to Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong:

British Airways will suspend flights to Sydney from April 9, with the short-term axe also falling on Hong Kong and Singapore.

2020-04-16: Stranded in the world’s biggest lockdown, Australians say Canberra is ignoring their pleas

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MORE BY THE AUTHOR
Dandelion
Amber Houston was born light-years from Earth, aboard the enormous colony starship Dandelion. By the age of fourteen, she has spent her entire life training as a "Ranger," ready for the day when she will be among the first humans ever to set foot on an alien world & build a new civilization.
When Dandelion suffers an emergency toward the end of its journey, Amber & her fellow young rangers are evacuated & land on the planet Newhome years ahead of schedule. While the adults left behind on Dandelion slow the ship & turn it around to come back---in eight years---Amber & her friends must build lives for themselves amid revelations that will change Humankind's destiny forever.
Meanwhile, aboard the ship, secrets that were buried over three hundred years ago finally come to light...
Co-authored alongside Justin C. Louis, Dandelion is my debut novel, and you can read it right here on Reddit with each of the book's chapters being posted monthly here, as well as on Royal Road.
If you get impatient and would like to read the whole thing, then you can purchase it in hardcover and paperback through your local book store or online wherever good books are sold. Alternatively, you can download it for free through Kindle Unlimited.

What you are about to read...

...is chapter 72 of an ongoing story, the writing of which is funded by the kind donations of my patrons and subscribers.
If you enjoy this story and think that I deserve something for it (thank you!) then you can:

• Join my other patrons on Patreon or on Subscribestar
  
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• ...Or just say nice things about me to people you know.
  

This chapter comes in at 27,285 action-packed words!
In this chapter:
House Henen has committed grave wrongs against the Gao, and the full weight of the Allied military is brought to bear against them. Under the wondrous beauty of Eclipse Palace, however, lie crimes even worse than the deathworlders had believed.
And terrible things must be done to achieve justice.

IF YOU ARE NEW TO THIS SERIES...

First of all, welcome! The Deathworlders has been in production now for more than three years, and is now very, very long indeed! Like... two million words maybe? Something like that. I lost count.
While I hope that the story stands well enough on its own, the setting (Also known as “The JVerse”) has often been a collaborative effort, building on the talented work of other writers who have breathed life and detail into its every corner.
Characters, species and concepts have entered this narrative thanks to those other writers, and while I have made every effort to keep the story coherent and readable without requiring you to read those other works…
…Read them. Seriously. Not only are they awesome, but you will gain a much richer understanding of the events unfolding in this story.
In particular, you will want to read:

• “Humans Don’t Make Good Pets” by guidosbestfriend
  
• “Salvage” by Rantarian
  
• “The Xiù Chang Saga” by hume_reddit
  
• “Good Training” by ctwelve
  
• and "The Waters of Babylon" by slice_of_pi
  

They are best read in the chronological Reading Order curated by galrock0 and fourbags or, if you prefer the abridged version which contains only those items most useful to understanding The Deathworlders, you can instead follow the Essential Reading Order

THE STORY SO FAR

Beware Spoilers
In the standard classification system used by those interstellar civilizations which are members of the Interspecies Dominion, a habitability rating of 10 or higher indicates that a planet is a so-called “deathworld”---lethally inimical to most forms of life, and populated by the strongest, toughest, fastest and deadliest forms of life in the galaxy.
For most of their history, the native sophonts of the planet Earth were unaware of their own planet’s habitability rating: A high-end twelve.
This fact only became known to humanity after a force of the feared and reviled entities known as “Hunters” attempted to raid Earth to take slaves for their meat. In the aftermath of the attack, the Rogers Arena in Vancouver was closed for a month while alien blood was meticulously cleaned off the ice and taken away for study.
The Interspecies Dominion responded by quarantining Sol and all its planets behind an impenetrable forcefield.
In the years since this historic event, Mankind have slipped their cage and begun their tortuous journey toward becoming an interstellar power. The colony of Cimbrean represents humanity’s first strong foothold in a hostile galaxy, protected by a stolen duplicate of the same forcefield that quarantines Earth.
There have been ups and downs: A young Canadian woman, abducted by the grey-skinned “Corti” as a zoological research specimen, instead rescued and was befriended by a contingent of colonists from a mammalian species known as the Gao, and from this solid start a firm friendship has flourished between the two species.
But the galaxy is a corrupt place, ruled for countless millennia by the agents of a species known as the Igraens. This “Hierarchy” has one overarching mission above all others---to suppress the evolution of sapient deathworld life-forms. To that end, they have rendered untold thousands of species extinct, and their efforts at containing the situation on Earth have led to the destruction of the city of San Diego.
But in that act, they reached too far. It is now impossible for those alien leaders who are not already under their influence to ignore the signs that something sinister is at work. The Humans and Gaoians have formed an elite force---the SOR, comprised of the hardy JETS and the pinnacle HEAT---whose spaceborne capability are unmatched by anyone, anywhere.
Mankind have barely set foot on the galactic stage before finding themselves embroiled in a deadly fight for survival...but when it comes to survival, there is nothing in the galaxy that matches a Deathworlder.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, THANKS AND DEDICATIONS

This chapter was brought to you with the help of my Patrons and Subscribers
The SOR
Those special individuals whose contributions to this story go above and beyond mere money
cTwelve,
BitterBusiness,
Sally and Stephen Johnson
Sian, Steve, Willow and Riker
Forty Humans
TTTA Adam Shearsby Alvaro Gaitan Anthony Landry Anthony Youhas Armond471 Austin Deschner blackwolf393 Brigid Chris Candreva Chris Dye Daniel Iversen Daniel Morris Eric Hardwick HungryWerewolf James Ren Jeffrey Stults John Norton Joseph Szuma Joshua Mountain Taylor Karthik Mohanarangan Katja Krit Barb Marquis Talmadge Nicolas Gruenbeck Ortheri Rob Rollins Ryan Seaman Sam Berry Shane Wegner Sun Rendered T.A. Carlson Taylor McGee TheMoneyBadger Theningaraf Trevor C Xultanis Yeania Aeon Zachary Galicki Zenith
As well as Fifty-seven Deathworlders...
Adam Beeman Alexandre Smirnov Andrew Andrew Ford Andrew Preece atp Ben Thrussell Brandon Hicks Bruce Ludington Chris Bausch Chris Meeker damnusername Daniel R. David Jamison Derek Price Devin Rousso galrock0 Gavin Smart Ignate Flare Ivan Smirnov Jim Hamrick John Campbell Jon Justin Hood Katie Drzewiecki Kristoffer Skarra Lina lovot Matt Matt Demm Matthew Cook Max Bohling Mel B. Mikee Elliott Nathaniel Batts Nick Annunziata NightKhaos Patrick Huizinga Richard A Anstett RJ Smiley Ryan Cadiz Sam Saph Sean Calvo Sir Xaph Stephen Prescott Stratigan theWorst Valiander Vincent Leighton Volka Creed walter thomas William Kinser Woodsie13 Yshmael Salas ziv Zod Bain
82 Friendly ETs...
4thkorean Aaron Aaron Johnson Abraham Buditama Adam Shields Adrian af12689 Alexander Haruk AlxH Andrew Binnie Andrew Leap Annellysse Anthony Thiebaut Ben Brandwood Ben C Reynolds Bob Brandon J DeGroot Cameron Schneider Chakfor Charles Roche Chase Caynoski chris wood CW Danny Sloan David Florish Divran Doug Carr EliteKiller693 Eric Driggers Eric Kunz Foxwolf Firebane Francisco Henry Moyers Ian Grossman Isaac Hunter J Andrade Jack Edun - Hughes James Jonathan Grimm Jonathan McGee Jonathan Wallace Joseph Mans Joshua King Kai kevin belcik Kevin Hanley Kralizec Lachlan McDonald Lambros Lance Lott Logan Rudie Luke Southwell Martin McCallister Maurice Brown Max Meteroson Mike Barrell Mitchell Dokken Nathan Fish nd Neandertim Nicholas Ragan Nicolas Shallcross Oblomov Olli Erinko Paladin3712x Phillip Varin Robert Buchan Terrey Robert Hosek Robert Milne Sally Johnson Scott Robert Dawson Sean Cooper Sean Haley Sins SourMonkey Space253 ThatEpicPenguin TMarkos Tom Neylan Tyler Powell Watchful1
147 Squishy Xenos and 320 Dizi Rats, who should exercise caution while reading this chapter.
NOW CLICK HERE TO READ CHAPTER 72
—

Albums

• Arlo Parks - Collapsed In Sunbeams [R&B/Soul]
• Chip - Snakes & Ladders (featuring Jme, Dizzee Rascal + more) [Grime/UK Rap]
• Madlib - Sound Ancestors [Instrumental Hip Hop, Spiritual Jazz]
• Bronze Nazareth & Leaf Dog - Bundle Raps [Wu-Tang Affiliated, East Coast Hip Hop]
• Scando The Darklord - Hexes & Jinxes (featuring Iamsu!, Nef The Pharaoh + more) [Bay Area Hip Hop]
• Lapgan - Duniya Kya Hai ["Beats composed almost exclusively with sounds from India and Pakistan"]
• Fredo - Money Can't Buy Happiness (featuring Pop Smoke, Dave, Summer Walker & Young Adz) [Road Rap]
• Lil Durk - The Voice (Deluxe) [featuring Lil Baby, Pooh Shiesty & Sydny August] [Chicago Trap]
• /makinghiphop 2020 Mixtape
• BONES - BURDEN (featuring Xavier Wulf & Eddy Baker) [Cloud Rap, Soundcloud Rap]
• /yedits - SO HELP ME GOD [Pop Rap]
• Deante’ Hitchcock - Live from Quarantine [Spillage Village adjacent]
• maasai - With The Shifts (featuring AKAI SOLO & KUMBAYA) [sLUms. adjacent]
• Koncept Jack$on & Ohbliv - JET MagaZINE '21 Reissue [Mutant Academy adjacent]
• Theravada - XENOPHON
• Remy Banks - the phantom of paradise (featuring Rome Streetz, eXquire, Wiki, A-Trak, Pink Siifu, Maxo, Dreamcast & GVVAAN) [sLUms. Adjacent]
• Mickey Factz - Hue: An Audio Last Will & Testament (featuring Bun B, Tony Williams, Nick Grant + more) [Bronx Battle Rapper]
• Haiti Babii - Trap Art (featuring Jackboy & Wyclef Jean) [West Coast Trap]
• Fendi P - Art of Finessing 2 (featuring Wiz Khalifa & Fiend) [Curren$y Adjacent]
• THE MUSALINI & O-FINESSE - NO SQUARE IN MY CIRCLE (featuring Planet Asia + more) [East Coast Boom Bap]
• Peso Peso - House Arrest (featuring Sada Baby, Paul Wall, Jackboy, Sosamann & Sauce Gordon) [TX Trap]
• brwnsounds - WITH LOVE. (featuring Pink Siifu + more) [sLUms. Adjacent]
• Henny L.O. - Ree Louis (featuring Big Kahuna OG & Fly Anakin) [Mutant Academy Adjacent]
• Passport Rav - Travel Ban (featuring Chris Crack & Boldy James) [Griselda Adjacent]
• MISKEEN HALEEM & MUTE WON - RARE FORM: THE GENESIS
• Rhettmatic - PRODUCED BY DJ RHETTMATIC, VOL. 2 (featuring Aloe Bacc, Ras Kass, Sean Price, Evidence, MED + more)
• Frazier Trill & Pi'erre Bourne - Frazier Trill (featuring Jelly & Bermuda Yae)
• Nechie - Shady Baby (featuring Gunna, Lil Durk & Yak Gotti) [ATL Trap]
• Substance810 - Makin' Waves (featuring Estee Nack, Ty Farris + more) [Griselda Adjacent]
• Farhot - Kabul Fire Vol. 2
• Zaytoven - Been Rappin [ATL Trap]
• Fat Tony - Houston Rap Classics (DJ Mix)
• Tsu Surf - MSYKM (Deluxe)
• Ethereal - Catalys2

EPs

• Lil Peep & Nedarb - California Girls - EP (featuring Craig Xen) [Emo Rap]
• Your Old Droog & Tha God Fahim - Tha Wolf On Wall St - EP (featuring Mach-Hommy) [New York Hip Hop]
• The Alchemist - Carry The Fire [Instrumental Hip Hop]
• 2KBABY - THE 2K STIMULUS [Louisville Trap]
• Rich the Kid - Lucky 7 (featuring DaBaby, Quavo, Takeoff, Lil Mosey, Mulatto, Flo Milli, Rubi Rose, & SipTee) [ATL Trap]
• Kenny Mason & Ace - Free City EP [ATL Hip Hop]
• Quincy White - The White House (featuring The Game, SiR, Stalley, Raheem Devaughn + more) [West Coast Hip Hop]
• Yameen - Yarouze
• AraabMuzik - SOULFUL VOCALS
• Aaron Childs - Peach

Singles

• Brent Faiyaz & DJ Dahi - Gravity (feat. Tyler, The Creator)
• Freddie Gibbs Alfredo - Daddy Loves You (Alfredo Vinyl Bonus Track)*
• Kodak Black - Last Day In
• Knxwledge - poorshot_ / MEH_BOP.*
• JPEGMAFIA - FIX URSELF!
• FKA twigs, Headie One & Fred again.. - Don't Judge Me
• serpentwithfeet - Fellowship (feat. Sampha)
• Westside Boogie -Joe Exotic (Freestyle)*
• The Koreatown Oddity - Breastmilk
• Young Stoner Life (Yak Gotti & Yung Kayo) - GFU (feat. Sheck Wes)
• M Huncho - Overpriced (Freestyle) / Dancing On Ice (feat. Nafe Smallz & Yxng Bane)
• Enny - Ask About Me Freestyle
• Stove God Cooks & Flee Lord - Marcus Smart
• Khruangbin - Dearest Alfred (MyJoy) [Knxwledge Remix]
• Lil Mosey - Holy Water
• Pink Sweat$ - At My Worst (Remix) [feat. Kehlani]
• Jenny Lewis & Serengeti - Vroom Vroom
• Drakeo the Ruler - Refugee Freestyle / Polar Bear
• Angel Haze - Weight
• lil ricefield, seiji oda & Guapdad 4000 - Anime Shawty, Vol. 2
• Cal Scruby - Underground
• Ty Dolla $ign & Post Malone - Spicy (Remix) [feat. J Balvin, YG, & Tyga]
• The Opioid Era - 1-800-$muggler
• scarlxrd - RED LIGHT.
• Viper - Robbin’ Robinhood N’ Holdin On 2 Tha $GME (Ride or Die) / Fall Thru Clean Lik A Money Machine
• Meek Mill, Leslie Grace & Boi-1da - Conga
• Babyface Ray - If You Know You Know (feat. Moneybagg Yo)
• Since99 - Younghoe Koo
• Chris Crack - False Evidence Appearing Real
• CJ - BOP
• bbno$ - help herself (feat. Diamond Pistols)
• Chronic Tone - Eggplant Parm (feat. Codenine, Estee Nack & Paranom)
• Locksmith & Jon Connor - Angels & Demons
• Hazey Haze - Actors (feat. Willzee, Aaron Hayes, Citrus Fresh, Size, MCB, Krome, Strange Boy & Clerk 5)
• Maffii - Coke White (feat. Messy Marv)
• Mitchy Slick & Philthy Rich – It Can Happen
• T Star - Comfort Zone (feat. Big K.R.I.T.)
• Yella Beezy - STAR (feat. Erica Banks)
• Payday - Dolphin
• Asun Eastwood & Slang Hugh - Victory (feat. SNACKZ)
• Caleborate - What U Want
• WeedJunky - Coulda Graduated
• Bodega Bamz- The King
• Kwengface & PS - Petrol Station
• 347aidan & Kenny Beats - IDWK
• Termanology - Broad Day (feat. Jay Royale, Lil Fame & Rome Streetz)
• Nametag Alexander - Set Go
• Trapboy Freddy - Hypocrite
• Rico 2 Smoove - Tha Takeover
• Slimka - Headshot
• Sleep Sinatra & Stik Figa - Build With Me
• SAFE - Rumors
• Rucci & Bla$ta - For The Money
• Payroll Giovanni - Bless The Booth Freestyle
• Big Baby Scumbag - Air Fryer Anthem
• O.T. Genasis - Big League
• Tos-El Bashir, 9th Scientist, Amun Ra, Honorable Ayun & Aslaam Mahdi - The True Light
• Tokyo Jetz - Know The Rules (feat. T.I.)
• Amber Window - Compubox (feat. Quelle Chris, Guerrita & Daniel Juárez)
• Clean Bandit - Higher (feat. iann dior)
• Bankroll Freddie - Add It Up
• Big Sad 1900 - Be Like That
• Kartier Kush - Hustler (feat. Dat Boi Vic)
• Las Ninyas Del Corro - Trinidad
• Lord Apex, Fly Anakin & ANKHLEJOHN - The Circle
• Rylo Rodriguez - Ceremony
• Tobe Nwigwe - Wake Up Everybody
• N.O.R.E. - Goin Up (feat. DJ Khaled & DreamDoll) / Outta Line (feat. Conway the Machine & Method Man)
• DDG - Moonwalking In Calabasas (Carnage Remix)
• John Givez
• Megan Thee Stallion - Body (Joel Corry Remix)
• Desiigner - GLE
• G Perico & 1TakeWay - Pull it
• D Proffit & Skengdo - Skengdo Freestyle
• Ramriddlz - 7Abibti
• Mark Battles, Warren G & 12fifteen - One Time
• Felly - So You Fell In Love
• Rexx Life Raj & !llmind - Bounty
• Rome Fortune - Yea Yea Yea
• Why G & Suuf Hefner - Talk [6ixbuzz]
• LocoCity - Dead Nigga [6ixbuzz]
• MARKIN $KY - Lavender Latte
• Curtis Williams, Sango & Palette - Salmon
• EARTHGANG - Tokyo Files (Skylab 3 Remix)
• Max B & Giggs - Bad to Tha Bone
• Sneakbo - Chasing the Bag
• Slimelife Shawty - Homicide
• Masiwei (of Higher Brothers) - Toban Djan
• Shawn Eff - Hottest Out (feat. Mike Sherm, Daboii, EBK Young Joc & MGM Flash)

Features

• NIVO - Runnin It Up (feat. Rexx Life Raj)
• Nard & Rich Homie Quan - Clusters
• Vicky Chanad - Fuego (feat. Pressa)
• DJ Illogik - Break's Over (feat. Open Optiks & Skyzoo)
• Swa Playmaker - Work (feat. Jim Jones)
• Lifeof9000 - We Up (feat. Josh Hammonds, Ramon Rivas & Raekwon)
• Rocz Nice - Coquito (feat. Benny the Butcher)
• LxDaBandit - Thuggin' (feat. Warhol.SS)
• Barlito - Honkytonk (feat. Popp Hunna)
• GrownBoiTrap - Freestyle (feat. Young Nudy)
• Just Juice - Ariana (feat. Smoove'L)
• R3HAB, Rahkim & Smokepurpp - Fendi
• Chess Moves, DJ Mada & Danny Brown - Thought Tank 160Vu
• Park Hill - Early Morning (feat. M Huncho)
• Cardboard People - My High, Right? (feat. Del the Funky Homosapien, Dominó, Joey Radio & Rhon)
• 2 Eleven - Another Play (feat. Freddie Gibbs & Quincey White)
• antiAFTeR - Quarantine (feat. Plu2o Nash & Ransah)
• The MookMann - Do Ya Grind (feat. Kota The Friend)
• Tres Aurland & C. Ray - God Mode (feat. Royce da 5'9")
• Highup & Aryue - PARTY (feat. Snoop Dogg)
• B Nicole - In My Bag (feat. Von Hooli & OMB Peezy)
• Perk - Last Time (feat. Pell)
• Thu3 - Out the Bottom (feat. Tsu Surf)
• Compton Av, Curren$y & Steelz - Cold Summers
• Yung Kellz - D-Generation X (feat. BabyTron)
• OSBS - Reggie Bush (feat. Lil Keed)

* means not on streaming
project features are listed mostly just if the artist is recognizable
the "Features" tab are songs that haven't been posted that I discovered through the feature.
From KHDTX13 (will be updated):

SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS:

Fresh Singles

Fresh Albums & EPs

Due to rising cases caused by a new coronavirus variant, Greater London (32 boroughs + The City of London) and much of the adjacent home counties areas (including Kent, Berks, Herts, and most of Surrey, and Essex) previously under under Tier 3 restrictions are now in Tier 4.
In addition, the Christmas Bubble exception has been cancelled.
The new variant is not necessarily more lethal, treatments seem to be as effective, as do the new vaccines, but it appears it is spreading faster.

The Usual Stuff

Stay 2m (6ft) away from people that you don't live with where practical, and at least 1m (3ft) away at all times. Do your very best to maintain hygiene, washing your hands and shared surfaces at every opportunity. And of course, you should only do what you're comfortable with.
If you have any symptoms of COVID-19, even mild, stay home for at least 10 days until you no-longer have a temperature. Get a test through the gov.uk testing website or calling 119. Others in your household must stay home for 14 days ^source.
Most coronavirus cases are mild, but if you're very ill, call 111, or in an emergency, call 999 - DO NOT go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital with COVID-19. Continue to keep NHS appointments for other purposes unless your clinician tells you otherwise or the government changes the advice.

What are the restrictions?

We now have the restrictions officially published
Stay at home and work from home with the following exceptions:

• Working (if you can't work from home)
• Essential activities (shopping for food, picking up prescriptions)
• Legal obligations
• Education and Childcare
• Exercise and recreation (alone outside in a public place)
• Medical reasons
• To escape harm or injury
• To visit someone who's dying or is in a care home on their own

You can meet with 1 other person who is outside your household outdoors.
All hospitality remains closed as in Tier 3, and hotels, indoor entertainment venues and tourist attractions, gyms, personal care, and non-essential retail will also close. The Christmas Bubbles system has been withdrawn for all Tier 4 areas

Can I go somewhere else?

Generally, no. You cannot leave a Tier 4 area unless you need to for work or some other exceptional reason (see the guidance). No travel abroad is permitted except for work or other exceptional purposes

Can I visit London now?

Generally no. People from other areas of England may not enter a Tier 4 area and the government advises everyone should stay local over Christmas.
All tourist attractions will be closed.

Incoming international travellers

Many incoming foreign travellers from higher risk countries are subject to a mandatory two week quarantine. Check if your country is on the list. You can reduce your time in isolation after arrival to 5 days (instead of 10 days) by paying for a coronavirus test from a participating provide. You need to opt in on the passenger locator form when you arrive. Tests are currently roughly £150 and must be booked in advance. Full guidance is here.

Face masks

Face coverings are compulsory on all forms of public transport and in all shops, takeaways, hospitals and care homes. This is a law and you can be fined if you do not comply. You don't need to buy a fancy respirator, instead think about buying or making your own from fabric, or use a scarf or bandana. As long as you wash them at a decent heat between uses this is much more environmentally friendly than disposable surgical masks.

The NHS App

The NHS COVID-19 app is now available. It uses Apple & Google's co-developed bluetooth protocol which does not transmit any of your personal details to anyone, including the government. It's been used as the basis for apps in privacy-conscious countries like Germany and Ireland, and is generally considered safe and secure.
The app is particularly effectively in dense urban areas, and NHS England's also includes features to help you check in to venues and get a test.
Download it!

Get help or give help

With the short days, the cold weather, and the lockdown restrictions, this is going to be a hard time for everyone.

• If you're feeling the strain or just feeling lonely and want to talk to someone the /MentalHealthUK master post is a great place to start.
• Also try our Daily Observations thread or /LondonSocialClub for virtual meets!
• Mutual Aid groups are local groups organised to support the most vulnerable in our communities. Find your Mutual Aid Group here.
• You can also Volunteer for the NHS. They're reopened applications recently.

This is not official advice - just our summary and might contain errors and omissions. Check gov.uk for the letter of the law. Please post any feedback or suggestions

Updated January 8, 2020
DISCLAIMER: I wear my mask, wash my hands and try not to touch my face. I limit my social interactions. I follow most rules, even though many don't make sense. This is NOT a “COVID hoax” or “anti-vaxxer” post.
I agreed with lockdown measures that were taken in March 2020, when a lot was unknown. We did not have full knowledge of whom the virus affected and we did not have better treatment measures.
But science and data over the last 10 months has clearly shown that our approach needs to change.
“Where all think alike, no one thinks very much” Walter Lippmann, 2-time Pulitzer Prize winner
SO WHO IS COVID DEADLY FOR? Data from government public health websites.
PUBLIC HEALTH CANADA https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid ... s.html#fn1
Out of 16435 COVID related deaths in Canada, 89.2% are in the 70+ age group.
Percentage of COVID deaths in the 0-49 age group: 1.1% (this is a total of 192 COVID related deaths in Canada)
NOTE: It is important to make the distinction that just because someone dies WITH COVID does not mean that they died BECAUSE of COVID. COVID deaths may be inflated due to this distinction. False positive cases may further inflate this number (more on this later).
LONG TERM CARE HOMES https://ltc-covid19-tracker.ca
70.3% of all COVID related deaths in Canada have been in long term care homes
PUBLIC HEALTH ALBERTA https://www.alberta.ca/stats/covid-19-a ... istics.htm
Average age of COVID-related death in Alberta: 82 years old.
Out of 1241 COVID related deaths in Alberta, 97.1% have had 1 or more co-morbidities.
Here is the breakdown: * 3 or more comorbidities: 75.0% * 2 comorbidities: 14.4% * 1 comorbidity: 7.7% * No comorbidity: 2.9% (highly likely to be in the older age demographic)
NOTE: Comorbidities included are: Diabetes, Hypertension, COPD, Cancer, Dementia, Stroke, Liver Cirrhosis, Cardiovascular diseases (including IHD and Congestive heart failure), Chronic Kidney disease, and Immuno-deficiency.
STATSCAN REPORT: COVID 19 DEATH COMORBIDITIES IN CANADA (from the first wave, until July 31, 2020) https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45- ... 87-eng.htm

• 90% of all COVID-involved deaths had at least 1 comorbidity.
• ALL COVID-involved deaths in Canada under the age of 45 had at least 1 other disease/condition certified on the medical certificate of death.

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?
We must acknowledge that these stats are all people and each number represents a human loss. We are all empathetic to that.
Now, the data clearly states the obvious: 1. A LARGE majority of COVID related deaths have and are still occurring in long term care homes. 2. COVID is a deadly threat to persons with co-morbidities and/or persons above the age of 70. It is not a LONE killer by itself. Note that any disease is dangerous to this population set, not just COVID. 3. For a healthy person below the age of 70, there is greater than 99% chance of COVID recovery. This is no worse than the flu.
This is all good news, because we know who COVID affects and who we desperately need to protect. We also have other good news…
GOOD NEWS #1: VITAMIN D3 DATA
Vitamin D acts a key function for strengthening our immune system and is primarily acquired through sunlight exposure. There is a strong correlation that a Vitamin D deficiency will likely result in a serious case of a COVID infection, lowering hospitalizations, deaths and long-term COVID effects.
Vitamin D3 was shown to be deficient in 80% of hospitalized COVID patients in Spain [2].
The most comprehensive scientific study of Vitamin D deficiency in correlation to COVID patients was conducted in India over a span of 6 weeks [3]. Out of 154 patients, 63 severe cases needed ICU. Out of these, 61 patients (97%) had a Vitamin D deficiency. Overall, India has shown to have a lower strain of COVID, possibly because Vitamin D deficiency hits a much lower percentage of the population (due to more sunlight).
The UK government has already promoted Vitamin D to the entire population and is giving out free vitamin D handouts to persons most at risk for COVID [4].
4000 IU daily is recommended to create a strong immune response to COVID [5].
GOOD NEWS #2: BETTER COVID TREATMENTS
Doctors have improved the mortality rates of severe COVID cases, using better ICU procedures. A person hospitalized in March 2020 was 3 times more likely to die than someone hospitalized in August 2020 [6].
GOOD NEWS #3: ASYMPTOMATIC %
At least 17% of the population is estimated to be asymptomatic to COVID [7]. Many are immune to the danger of COVID.
The converse argument, of course, is the possible asymptomatic spread of infection which is difficult to detect. However, if an asymptomatic person does not interact with the vulnerable portion of the population, then what difference does it make?
Instead, why not focus on controlling spread in the SMALLER vulnerable demographic where it really matters?
BAD NEWS #1: LOOKING AT CASE NUMBERS USING FLAWED PCR TESTING
PCR tests, in their current form, are faulty and ineffective [9]. In Dec 2020, the World Health Organization confirmed what was known for months; that high cycle threshold PCR tests result in a high amount of false positives and that testing labs around the world need to reduce their threshold values [10]. The US FDA has also warned of the risk of false positives from PCR tests [8].
It is important for everyone to understand what a Polymerase Chain Reaction test does. A PCR test is looking for RNA, which is a small particle of any cell (just like DNA). In this case, we are looking for the coronavirus RNA.
The amount of RNA in a saliva/nasal swab is very small, so PCR tests amplify the sample to help detect it. Each cycle doubles the material. One becomes two. In the next cycle, two is amplified to four, and so on. In Canada, and most of the world, specimens are amplified to a minimum value of at least 35 cycle thresholds (Ct). That creates over 17 billion copies of the material, enough to be able to detect any viral particle.
However, a Canadian National Microbiology study stated that specimens with Ct values greater than 24 were found to be viral culture negative [11]. What does this mean?
That if RNA is found at a Ct value of 35, the virus cannot be cultured. It cannot be grown. Because it is DEAD. The RNA is simply a remnant of a past COVID infection. A FALSE POSITIVE CASE. This case does not reflect an active infection nor is it contagious. That person was infected weeks or months ago.
This has been known irrefutable scientific fact for months: PCR tests are not reliable unless we REDUCE Ct values. Why are we creating worldwide mitigation policies based on this?
Lastly, and most importantly, using number of cases for policy making does not reflect the bigger picture. Someone with little or no symptoms of illness is NOT a case.
Instead, our main concern should this: How many of those cases are getting HOSPITALIZED and who is DYING?
THE BAD NEWS #2: LONG COVID
Long term effects of COVID; persistent symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, respiratory, brain and heart issues can continue for weeks and months for some COVID cases. While there is still more research to be done, here is what we know so far.
King’s College London and the UK National Health Service have compiled the largest data set on this topic, using information from 4182 confirmed COVID cases [12]. Here was the breakdown of how many experienced long COVID, by duration of symptoms. The study also states that these numbers were comparable to Sweden and USA.

• 4 weeks: 13.3% (1 out of 7 cases)
• 8 weeks: 4.5% (1 out of 20 cases)
• 12 weeks 2.6% (1 out of 50 cases)

The susceptibility to experience long COVID is increased by the following factors, but can occur in low proportions in healthy individuals as well:

• Increased age
• Severity of COVID infection (i.e. number of COVID symptoms experienced in the first week)
• Obesity

Long COVID is a definitely a concern, but it does not warrant ignoring the negative long-term health effects of a lockdown.
BAD NEWS# 3: LOCKDOWNS DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD
If you believe that a lockdown puts life and health ahead of the economy, you have been gravely misled. Lockdowns kill and destroy more lives than save lives.
The World Health Organization themselves do not advocate for lockdowns as the primary means of control of this virus [13].
The first and very comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of a lockdown in Canada was performed by Dr. Ari Jaffe, an infectious disease expert, who initially supported lockdowns but is now a strong opponent. His study concluded that the lockdowns in Canada will result in 10 statistical lives lost for every 1 COVID life saved [14].
Reasons for these lockdown deaths is due to restricted medical care such as

• delay of elective surgeries
• undiagnosed heart and cancer patients
• lack of accessible treatment for current patients

Moreover, the following repercussions of a lockdown are also not taken into account. All of these have a negative impact on life expectancy and illness.

• Mental Health
• Social Isolation (top 3 predictor of heart disease)
• Suicides
• Domestic Abuse
• Drug Abuse and Alcoholism
• Poverty and accompanying Malnutrition/Starvation
• Children’s Education and Childhood Trauma

The Canadian Mental Health Association concluded a study on all of the above, with 3027 participants Canada wide [15]. Here are some highlights:

• 10% experienced recent thoughts or feelings of suicide (up from 2.5% pre-pandemic).
• 40% have had their mental health decline during the pandemic
• 27% are worried about putting food on the table
• 18% report fearing physical and mental abuse while trapped at home
• Ontario experienced a 38% increase in drug overdose deaths during the 15 weeks of the first wave lockdown[36]

A Canadian Psychiatric Research report has projected an increase of between 418-2114 excess suicides in Canada (depending on 1.6% to 10.7% increase in unemployment) [16].
Lastly, lockdowns are causing our general health and immunity to be being lowered. We are locked down at home, with increasing mental health issues, stress, lack of sunlight and lack of exercise. This further lowers our bodies’ response to any sort of infection, including COVID.
Using lockdowns, we have only looked at short term gratification, while disregarding long term destruction.
BAD NEWS #4: HOSPITAL OVERCAPACITY
The ideal measure to avoid a lockdown is to increase hospital capacity as much as possible.
Unfortunately, hospital space and staff shortages have always been a problem, even before the pandemic [17]. Every flu season in the last 3 years has had hospitals running at over capacity. Don’t let COVID distract you from the historical failures of the government.
This may sound ludicrous, but a simple online search will prove it. Here are a few news articles from previous years addressing that concern:
Dec 2017: https://bit.ly/38wEqwn
Feb 2018: https://bit.ly/2M5dIU4
Jan 2020: https://bit.ly/3nZ5laR
Canada, despite being one of the biggest spenders for health care, sits far behind for services provided. As of 2019, out of 28 developed countries, here is how Canada ranked [18]:

• Doctors: 26th (2.8 doctors per 1000 people)
• Hospital Beds: 26th (2 beds per 1000 people)

Between Mar 15-Jun 13, 2020 (the first lockdown), the Ontario surgical backlog had an average increase of a whopping 11413 surgeries per week. This led to a total of 150000 backlogged surgeries, which is estimated to take 84 weeks to clear (almost 1.5 years) [19].
We were completely unprepared for additional medical concerns, let alone a pandemic. Why has the government not addressed the hospital capacity issue? This is the most IMPORTANT factor in avoiding a lockdown. Why is the public paying the price for government inadequacy?
BAD NEWS #5: CANADA’S ECONOMIC SITUATION
Socio-economic factors are the greatest indicator for the health of the population. Lack of finances do affect mental health, physical health and life expectancy. Look at any third-world country. Look at the impoverished demographic of any population set.
Canadian Annual Deficit:
2019: $19.8 Billion [20]
Projected for March 2021: $381.6 to $398.7 Billion [21]
This is an increase in deficit of almost 2000%. THIS IS REAL. This is NOT a typo. Imagine your $20,000 student loan becoming $398,000. By far, this is the HIGHEST deficit in Canadian history.
Within the last year, Canada has had the worst increase in Debt-to-GDP ratio in the world, which has risen by 80% [22]. We have spent the most amount of money in proportion to what our economy generates.
Our Minister of Finance resigned during the summer. A day after the Fall Economic statement was released on Nov 30, 2020, our Deputy Minister of Finance also resigned.
Our current Minister of Finance has no background in this field. Watch this video of her in Parliament: https://fb.watch/23ypw_Ru1_/
The following industries have been devastated: Aviation, Tourism, Entertainment, Hospitality, Restaurants, Fitness, Retail
Our official unemployment rate in October 2020 was listed at 8.9% [23]. This is deceiving. This is artificially held low by government subsidies and by ridiculous requirements to be considered “unemployed”.
The true unemployment number could be as high as 30%, if not more [24]. That means a staggering 10 million Canadians unemployed.
218000 small-to-medium businesses are at risk of closing permanently [25]. That is 1 out of every 5 businesses. This was based on July 2020 data, before a second lockdown was announced, and is clearly much worse now.
On the other hand, large corporations are thriving. The price of a lockdown is not equally borne across the Canadian population.
We are all in the SAME storm, but not the SAME boat.
WHY IS THE GOVERNMENT STILL IMPLEMENTING SUCH DAMAGING POLICIES?
This all started with a wildly incorrect and catastrophic model of COVID deaths by Dr. Neil Ferguson, from the Imperial College in the U.K. He projected that, unmitigated, COVID-19 would kill 326,000 in Canada this year [26]. Similar projections were made for other countries. Dr. Ferguson’s faulty projections, without being reviewed, led to a swift global lockdown and mass hysteria.
Using the Wuhan lockdown as a example, with a “75% reduction in interpersonal contact rates” however, he predicted deaths would fall to under 46,000 in Canada. Coming to the end of 2020, we are at approximately 15000 COVID related deaths in Canada [1]. While that is still a tragic number, it is nowhere close to what was predicted.
Dr. Ferguson has a history of incorrect modeling, apart from COVID. [26] [27]

• predicted 40000 COVID deaths in Sweden by May 2020, with no lockdown. By then, Sweden actual deaths were under 3000.
• 2002: predicted 150000 deaths from Mad Cow Disease. Actual toll was 2704.
• 2005: predicted 150 million people would be killed by the bird flu. Between 2003-2009, actual toll was 282.
• 2009: predicted swine flu could lead to 65000 U.K. deaths. Actual toll: 457 people.

In March 2020, Dr. Ferguson admitted that his COVID modeling was based on a 13-year old computer code that was intended for a “feared influenza pandemic”.
We shut down the world based on this? No one looked for a second opinion? His reckless advice set a dangerous precedent for lockdown policies and abuse of human and constitutional rights.
If the government realized and changed their approach now, it would essentially mean admitting they are wrong. (Personally, I feel they have succumbed to tunnel vision).
How can they reverse course without getting politically skewered for going all in on what is now by far the largest public spending campaign ever, the most significant restriction on free society ever and the greatest peacetime damage ever inflicted on a generation, socially and economically, in modern history when it turns out it didn't make much of a difference? (Credit: Josh Kocher)
Instead, politicians have used the new “science” of DEMAGOGY - political activity or practices that seek support by appealing to the desires, prejudices and emotions of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument.
Implement measures that make us FEEL safe instead of what is ACTUALLY safe. With only COVID in the spotlight, actions are based on “optics”. As long as COVID lives are down, why bother with the collateral damage from a lockdown and its accompanying non-COVID deaths? Politicians don’t have to wipe that blood off their hands. Ignorance is bliss. Let’s save 1 COVID life that is in the public eye, but it will cost 10 lives down the road, not in the public eye. This is known as the Corona Dilemma (see attached pictures) [14].
If we had always put health ahead of the economy, here’s what would have happened a long time ago.

• Alcohol would be banned
• Tobacco would be banned (21918 deaths/day globally) [14]
• Highly processed and fried foods would be banned
• MORE climate change and air pollution prevention measures would be put in place.
• Driving would be banned (3699 deaths/day globally) [14]
• We would instill a lockdown during every flu season to conserve hospital capacity. NOTE: 230000-650000 people die globally of the common flu every year [28].

Doing the above would save millions of lives globally. But we accept those risks despite high fatality numbers, in order to stimulate the economy. We leave the decisions to drive cars, consume alcohol, eat fried foods and smoke in the hands of the people. (Yes, they are not CONTAGIOUS so it’s a different form of threat, but a death is a death, specially if it is statistically preventable).
Another important point to consider is that politicians are making decisions while being completely protected from the consequences of their decisions. Their salary stays the same and their large pensions fully protected. This is a position of PRIVILEGE.
WHY IS THE PUBLIC SUPPORTING THESE POLICIES?
For the general public, there are many working from home with pay. They have little to lose with a lockdown, so it is easy to support it. Again, a position of privilege. They are unaware of our country’s disastrous economic situation or the dangerous effects of a lockdown.
But more importantly, public support is being driven by mass hysteria; from the fear-mongering and sensationalizing of news by irresponsible journalism and incompetent politicians.
QUESTIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT
QUESTION: Why are high cycle threshold PCR tests still being used as the lone source for creating broad policies, despite their known inaccuracy and unsuitability? Can we stop with the constant regurgitating of daily case numbers?
QUESTION: Why are long term care facilities still experiencing COVID related deaths and not being protected better?
QUESTION: Why is the rest of Canada shut down when a distinct majority of the COVID related deaths are occurring in long term care homes, in age groups of 70+ and persons with co-morbidities?
QUESTION: Why do thousands of small businesses have to suffer when there is no proof that they are responsible for COVID transmissions?
Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table [29]: Restaurants, bars and clubs were the source of 0.7% of all COVID transmissions in Ontario. In fact, 58% of COVID cases do not know how and where the person was infected. The primary known source, close contact, adds up to 45% of Ontario COVID transmissions [29]. This means an unmasked setting for a prolonged period near someone close to you.
Have we seen Walmart and Costco take the contact information of every customer that enters the premises? No tracing = no cases = let them stay open.
Our politicians are blindly flailing at theories and superstitions to control this virus. How can a politician rob someone of their entire livelihood based on a hunch?
QUESTION: What is considered essential? Who decides this? Why is the LCBO (alcohol store ) open but gyms are not? To every person who is about to lose their job or business, is that not considered ESSENTIAL?
QUESTION: Why is a cost-benefit-result analysis not mentioned in any government policy?
QUESTION: Why has the government not put out a simple disclaimer to increase our Vitamin D3 intake, especially during the winter months? This one measure can possibly yield the MOST result with LEAST effort and collateral damage.
QUESTION: Why has the government not volunteered to take a pay cut, given that most of the population is suffering economically? Don’t CEOs take a pay cut when their company is in financial trouble?
NOTE: The New Zealand PM and her ministers took a 6-month 20% pay cut in April 2020 [30].
SIDENOTE: A Canadian MP who only holds 6 years in office gets a lifelong pension. Even a war veteran does not get this benefit [31]
QUESTION: Why are these policies being made behind closed doors? The Ontario government has abused its arbitrary emergency powers to make policies without the input of ALL members of Parliament. When did we give up democracy? Watch The Ontario Government Being Questioned About This In Parliament: https://fb.watch/22j-hpTDiL/
Why have those affected financially not been given a choice? If someone has to worry about putting food on the table and a roof over their head, they should have the right to go out and make a living. Let them decide for themselves whether they are willing to risk contracting COVID (a disease with a lethality rate of under 1% for the younger healthy working population).
QUESTION: Why is every international arrival subject to an archaic 14-day quarantine, when the Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Tam herself has said that there is little - if any - evidence of COVID transmission aboard aircraft? [32]
COVID transmission through travel primarily occurred BEFORE mitigation measures were implemented. Now, it is one of the safest public places you can be in. As of Jan 2, 2020, travel has only accounted for 2.5% of all COVID cases in Canada (with a known exposure setting). Most of these travel related cases are from early in the pandemic, before restrictions were placed [1].
Read the following fact-based article: The Irrational Fear Around Air Travel Needs To Stop (And We Need To Use Science Based Measures Instead): https://bit.ly/3rnS3GT
Why is rapid testing not conducted on arriving passengers? Results from the McMaster Health Lab rapid test study at Toronto Pearson airport: 99.7% were cleared or detected for COVID on arrival [34].
QUESTION: If someone got COVID and has recovered, they have built natural immunity. Why do they need to be vaccinated?
DOCTORS AROUND THE WORLD ARE SPEAKING OUT
Great Barrington Declaration: https://gbdeclaration.org
World Doctors Alliance: Letter to Citizens and Governments of the World: https://worlddoctorsalliance.com
MOVING FORWARD: WHAT DO WE DO NOW?
We have had 11 months to prepare and learn more. A lot is still unknown about COVID but A LOT IS KNOWN.
COVID is here now and we cannot stop it; that’s the harsh truth. Risk and harm cannot be completely eliminated. COVID will affect some people; that is unavoidable. It cannot be the SOLE reason behind making broad policies.
COVID is a harmful virus but not the killer virus it was projected to be.
There is a fine line between learning to live with COVID vs paralyzing our lives due to COVID, which we crossed a long time ago. Why are we hiding from COVID when we should use our knowledge to fight against it? Let’s stop the shortsighted and reactionary decision making.
We are we so focused on “number of cases and infections”? The test results are not reliable, and infections pose little or no harm to most of the younger healthy population. The important data is “number of hospitalizations and deaths”. In other words, shift our energy from “how do we limit COVID SPREAD?” to “how do we limit COVID DAMAGE?”
The long-term health and financial effects of a lockdown need to be considered. A lockdown will only transfer lives lost and destroyed. It will not save the overall excess deaths to a population. In fact, it will increase them in the long term.
The ONLY way out of this pandemic is through herd immunity, either naturally or through a vaccine. That vaccine is at least more than a year away for most people (another governmental failure). Moreover, there are many who will choose not to take a vaccine (personally, I will take it). We cannot have another 6 months of lockdowns. Every single day adds incredible amounts of short and long term damage.
A SUMMARY OF WHAT SHOULD BE DONE:
(Edit) Firstly, we should continue precautions to limit COVID spread. These are mitigation measures that may yield results without collateral damage: masks, wash hands frequently, don’t touch your face, reasonably limit social interactions.
I hope it’s clear: the problem isn’t number of cases. It’s the number of deaths and number of hospitalizations.
We know one thing for sure: Lockdowns should be our absolute last measure and that they will still come at a serious cost to society. Lockdowns are a REACTIVE measure to avoid getting hospitals overloaded.
Our most helpful measure to avoid a lockdown would have been to increase hospital capacity, but the government has failed us there.
Moreover, implement the actions below:

1. Offer Focused Protection for the following: long term care homes, the vulnerable population and those that have UNAVOIDABLE interaction with them. The measure alone may reduce COVID related deaths by 90+%. Even if the above demographic is half of the Canadian population, at least the other half don’t need to be locked down.
2. Let everyone else live normally, if they CHOOSE (of course, with cautionary measures)
3. Promote a healthy lifestyle, nutritious diet and increase Vitamin D intake for EVERYONE. This alone may reduce the number of hospitalizations, severe cases and long COVID.
4. BONUS MEASURE: All politicians need to take a pay cut. Sign the following petition: https://www.truenorthinitiative.com/politicians_need_to_cut_their_salaries

LET ME BE CLEAR. This is not about Lives VS. Economy. Health policy has been mistakenly sold as such. The truth is that a Focused Protection approach will save more lives and protect the economy. It’s a win-win.
This is about using everything we know to have an all-inclusive approach and look at the bigger long-term picture. To make decisions using science, data and logic, as opposed to fear and emotion.
Enough damage has been done. Don’t make the CURE worse than the virus. Don’t let political agendas get in the way of real help.
Free discourse is important because it helps to prevent bad ideas from blossoming and spreading.
We cannot simply accept the first viewpoint presented to us. Science requires many different points of view, rigorously tested, before arriving to a conclusion [35]. Science DEMANDS opposing opinions. Propaganda, on the other hand, silences it.
Something is VERY wrong when there is massive blowback to any questioning of the narrative. Something is VERY wrong when fear has become a virtue and courage a vice [35].
Something is VERY wrong when law enforcement questions the government about why they are forced to abandon their oath to the Charter Of Rights & Freedoms. Read their letter: https://bit.ly/3nW0Mhu
Please copy, paste or share this message if you agree.
SHARE ORIGINAL FACEBOOK POST: https://bit.ly/2IRbRRC
Samad Kadri
[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
REFERENCES
[1] https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid ... s.html#fn1
[2] https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/more-than ... -1.5162396
[3] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-77093-z
[4] https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... n-d-supply
[5] https://www.nutraingredients.com/Articl ... in-D-alarm
[6] https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/11/03/ ... s-improve/
[7] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03141-3
[8] https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/saf ... RHTwitterD
[9] https://cormandrostenreview.com/report/
[10] https://www.who.int/news/item/14-12-202 ... -ivd-users
[11] https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/71/10/2663/5842165
[12] https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101 ... 20214494v2
[13] https://www.narcity.com/en-ca/news/lock ... rol-method
[14] https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/20 ... 2/download
[15] https://cmha.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020 ... NAL-EN.pdf
[16] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 8120310386
[17] https://globalnews.ca/news/7464926/coro ... -capacity/
[18] https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/d ... mary_0.pdf
[19] https://www.cmaj.ca/content/192/44/E1347
[20] https://www.budget.gc.ca/2019/docs/plan/toc-tdm-en.html
[21] https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/federal ... -1.5209807
[22] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/12/ ... dp-covid19
[23] https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-q ... 6a-eng.htm
[24] https://www.thestar.com/business/opinio ... ke-30.html
[25] https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/sites/default/ ... losing.pdf
[26] https://www.iedm.org/the-flawed-covid-1 ... wn-canada/
[27] https://www.nationalreview.com/cornep ... grace/amp/
[28] https://www.health.com/condition/cold-f ... every-year
[29] https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/1 ... tario.html
[30] https://globalnews.ca/news/6820459/jaci ... s-pay-cut/
[31] https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board ... -plan.html
[32] https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/covid- ... -1.5797065
[33] https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/epidemiological-economic-research-data.html
[34] https://mcmasterhealthlabs.ca/pdf/MHL%2 ... Tr6W2NgSCw
[35] https://financialpost.com/opinion/2020- ... he-science
[36] https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/documents/o/2020/opioid-mortality-covid-surveillance-report.pdf?la=en

Perth hotel quarantine security personnel did not have to wear masks even while working on the same floor as COVID-19 infected patients, the WA Health Minister has revealed.
PPE use by guards and hotel staff has been thrust into the spotlight following the infection of a guard with the UK variant of COVID-19 sometime last week at the Four Points by Sheraton hotel in the Perth CBD.
Health Minister Roger Cook said security guards in hotel quarantine did not need to wear masks at every point while carrying out their duties, even if a COVID-19 patient was residing on the same floor.
“No, not necessarily if the people are in their rooms and the guard is simply monitoring that corridor they wouldn’t necessarily, they would probably have to carry it with them in order to protect themselves in the event that someone left the room,” he said.
Mr Cook said security staff had specific infection control training which gave him confidence in WA’s hotel quarantine arrangements but mask and PPE use would form part of a review into the system sparked by the new case.
Questions remain over whether the guard was wearing a mask when he delivered medicine to a COVID-19 positive hotel guest on January 24, an interaction authorities are zoning in on as the possible transmission event.
By Tuesday’s midday press conference nearly 60 hours had passed since the new case was confirmed but Mr Cook, Police Commissioner Chris Dawson, Premier Mark McGowan or Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson could not tell media whether the guard was wearing the mask during the delivery.
Mr Cook said authorities had only just been made aware of the medicine delivery on Tuesday morning and it would be investigated further.
“We don’t know that at this point in time, we do know that happened and that will be subject to the investigation,” he said.
Mr Cook also clarified that the guard had reported to his employer he was sick on January 30, not January 28 as authorities said was the case yesterday, though he did develop symptoms on January 28 and attended a Nedlands doctors clinic on January 29.
The security guard visited 18 sites across Perth from January 25 to January 30 when it was believed he was infectious.
Two investigations are ongoing. The first is from a health perspective where the contact tracing team is trying to figure out who the man came into contact with over the six days since his potential infection.
So far they have identified 151 contacts and 65 close contacts with 104 negative tests returned.
The second is being driven by police, who are scouring CCTV footage at fuel stations the man visited and searching police vehicle number plate recognition data to work out the guard’s exact movements.
The guard had a second job as a rideshare driver but authorities are adamant he did not work while infectious, though Mr Dawson said they would ‘validate and verify’ those claims.
Mr Dawson spoke at length to emphasise that the investigation was not a criminal one, rather they just didn’t want to rely on the guard’s memory of his movements.
“What we can't do is just rely on this man’s memory,” he said.
“So we will go through financial records and those sorts of things but again I don’t want to criminalise his behaviour, we’re doing this to try and assist, it might be that he has just forgotten.
“If he has forgotten or omitted to tell us where he has been the technical and investigative processes that will follow will add to what the contact tracers have already done.”
As of Tuesday afternoon police had not yet interviewed the guard because of complications with interviewing a COVID-19 infected person.
Just a day after stating he had no concerns about the continued use of the Four Points as a quarantine hotel Premier Mark McGowan announced it would stop accepting returned Australians. Everyone currently in the hotel would be tested again and people already released from the hotel from the 25th January would be forced to self-isolate.
Source: SMH

Due to a sharp rise in hospitalisations caused by a new coronavirus variant, England is back in national lockdown from Tues 5th January.
Stay 2m (6ft) away from people that you don't live with at all times. Do your very best to maintain hygiene, washing your hands and shared surfaces at every opportunity. **You must not leave, or be outside of your home except where necessary.
You may ONLY leave the home to:

• shop for basic necessities, for you or a vulnerable person
• go to work, or provide voluntary or charitable services, if you cannot reasonably do so from home
• exercise with your household only, once a day, locally, with one other person
• meet your support or childcare bubble
• seek medical assistance or avoid injury, illness or harm (such as domestic abuse)
• attend education or childcare for those eligible children (vulnerable or key workers)

Full guidance

What to do if you're unwell

If you have any symptoms of COVID-19, stay home for at least 10 days until you no-longer have a temperature. Get a test online or call 119. Others in your household must stay home for 14 days. DO NOT go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital with COVID-19 symptoms, use 111 or 119 first.
London Ambulance Service and our hospitals are reporting the system is currently very busy. You should only call 999 for life threatening emergencies. If it's not a life-threatening emergency call 111 or go online.

How about travel in or out of London?

Generally, no, you're not permitted to leave the local area, except for the reasons listed above for leaving your home. The advice is to stay local where you can.
No travel abroad is permitted except for work or other exceptional purposes.
Many incoming foreign travellers from higher risk countries are subject to a mandatory two week quarantine. Check if your country is on the list. You can reduce your time in isolation after arrival to 5 days (instead of 10 days) by paying for a coronavirus test from a participating provide. You need to opt in on the passenger locator form when you arrive. Tests are currently roughly £150 and must be booked in advance. Full guidance is here.

Get help or give help

This is going to be hard for everyone.

• Check out this post from our very own NEWSBOT3 on how to host a glitch-free video chat
• If you're feeling the strain or just feeling lonely and want to talk to someone the /MentalHealthUK master post is a great place to start.
• Also try our Daily Observations thread or /LondonSocialClub for virtual meets!
• Mutual Aid groups are local groups organised to support the most vulnerable in our communities. Find your Mutual Aid Group here.
• You can also Volunteer for the NHS. They're reopened applications recently.

This is not official advice - just our summary and might contain errors and omissions. Check gov.uk for the letter of the law. Please post any feedback or suggestions

Hot 50 Spotify Playlist // #1s Spotify Playlist // Every Song to Ever Chart (Credit to FLLH for this amazing playlist!)

Popheads Weekly Hot 50: Week of February 8, 2021

For this chart issue, we tracked everyone's top 10s from Thursday January 28, 12:00 PM GMT to the next Thursday, February 4, 11:59 AM GMT.

#	Artist - Song	Prev. Position	Peak	Weeks	Points	# of Listeners and #1
1	Sophie - It's Okay To Cry	RE-ENTRY	#1	4 wks	1832.5	30 of 212 listeners had the song as their #1.
2	Sophie - Immaterial	RE-ENTRY	#1	10 wks	1550.0	20 of 187 listeners had the song as their #1.
3	Olivia Rodrigo - drivers license	#1 (-2)	#1	4 wks	1300.5	21 of 139 listeners had the song as their #1.
4	Sophie - Faceshopping	RE-ENTRY	#2	5 wks	864.5	7 of 130 listeners had the song as their #1.
5	Sophie - JUST LIKE WE NEVER SAID GOODBYE	NEW	#5	1 wk	791.5	11 of 86 listeners had the song as their #1.
6	Sophie - Ponyboy	RE-ENTRY	#6	5 wks	712.0	5 of 105 listeners had the song as their #1.
7	SZA - Good Days	#4 (-3)	#2	6 wks	677.5	6 of 88 listeners had the song as their #1.
8	Sophie - BIPP	NEW	#8	1 wk	668.5	1 of 86 listeners had the song as their #1.
9	Selena Gomez - Baila Conmigo (with Rauw Alejandro)	NEW	#9	1 wk	663.5	12 of 72 listeners had the song as their #1.
10	Taylor Swift - willow	#6 (-4)	#1	8 wks	662.5	7 of 88 listeners had the song as their #1.

This week’s Popheads Chart Video: https://youtu.be/BlqzTcyhVks

If you want to see the points and number of listeners for each song in the top 50 chart, click here

• Highest Debut: #5. SOPHIE - JUST LIKE WE NEVER SAID GOODBYE
• Highest Re-Entry: #1. SOPHIE - It's Okay To Cry
• Biggest Gain: #23. The Weeknd - Save Your Tears (+15)
• Biggest Decrease: #44. Crystal Waters - 100% Pure Love (-34)

Popheads Monthly Top 25 Albums: Month of January 2021

For this chart issue, we tracked everyone's top 10 albums from January 1 12:00 AM GMT to January 31 11:59 PM GMT.

#	Artist - Album	Prev. Position	Peak	Months	Points	# of Listeners and #1
1	Taylor Swift - evermore	#1 (=)	#1	2 months	6776.0	229 of 527 listeners had the album as their #1.
2	Taylor Swift - folklore	#2 (=)	#1	7 months	3326.0	25 of 293 listeners had the album as their #1.
3	Ariana Grande - Positions	#4 (+1)	#1	4 months	2659.0	30 of 248 listeners had the album as their #1.
4	Miley Cyrus - Plastic Hearts	#3 (-1)	#2	3 months	2376.5	25 of 225 listeners had the album as their #1.
5	Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia	#5 (=)	#1	11 months	2162.0	19 of 216 listeners had the album as their #1.
6	Lady Gaga - Chromatica	#7 (+1)	#1	9 months	1756.5	14 of 170 listeners had the album as their #1.
7	Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher	#8 (+1)	#4	9 months	1683.5	32 of 145 listeners had the album as their #1.
8	Rina Sawayama - SAWAYAMA	#6 (-2)	#2	10 months	1620.0	17 of 157 listeners had the album as their #1.
9	Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure?	#10 (+1)	#3	8 months	1531.0	17 of 142 listeners had the album as their #1.
10	Taylor Swift - Lover	#11 (+1)	#1	18 months	1262.0	6 of 124 listeners had the album as their #1.

If you want to see the points and number of listeners for each album, click here.

• Highest Debut: #14. Jazmine Sullivan - Heaux Tales
• Highest Re-Entry: #16. The Weeknd - After Hours
• Biggest Gain: #12. Taylor Swift - reputation (+7)
• Biggest Decrease: #18. Kylie Minogue - DISCO (-5)

Popheads Top 5 Bubbling Under Chart February 8, 2021

We’ve had a lot of charts where the entire top 50 is just full of albums by the main pop girls for popheads and blocks a lot of singles from lesser known artists. So, this section puts a spotlight on songs that are just under the top 50. However, this is not gonna be “chart” focused and instead is gonna try to encourage other people to listen to other songs and list some information so people can find some songs they like. The bubbling under is calculated by taking the highest songs underneath the top 50 that haven’t charted on the top 50 before.

Artist	Song	Genre
Weezer	Numbers	if 2+2 is 4, and 5+5 is 10… what the fuck is this?
Arlo Parks	Hope	Quarantine Pop
Weezer	Grapes Of Wrath	Pop Rock
Sophie	MSMSMSM	PC Music
Clean Bandit	Higher (feat. iann dior)	UK Edm

Here's the current list of people signed up for the charts!

If you'd like to sign up, you can sign up here!

The tracking dates for the next weekly chart is February 4, 11:00 PM GMT - February 11, 10:59 AM GMT and results come out the next Monday, February 15. As for the monthly album chart, the next tracking dates are February 1 12:00 AM GMT - February 28 11:59 PM GMT, and results come out on March 8.

How The Chart Works:

These charts are created based on how frequently each song appears in the top 10 songs/albums for all of the users signed up for the chart. If the song or album occupies that user's #1 spot in their individual chart, it receives 15 points, then 14 points for #2, so on and so forth until 6 points for #10. If there is a tie, which is a common occurrence, then the number of points is averaged across those positions, e.g. if two songs are tied for #1, both will receive 14.5 points. Oftentimes there will be multiple songs tied for the last place, in which case the number of points each song receives decreases until it bottoms out at 1 point each.

Credits

• Post Proofreader / Reddit Post Author: ImADudeDuh
• Playlist Curators: therokinrolla
• Spotify Playlist Cover Art Designer / Video Editor: kyrgyzzephyr
• Crownnote Author : Tedyonce

Chart Wiki

On the Anarchist Response to the Global Pandemic
(just published on Montreal Counter-Info prior to Saturday's anti-curfew demonstration)
The Covid19 crisis has presented a challenge to anarchists and others who believe in a fully autonomous and liberated life. We write this today because we feel too many people who in better times carry these political and philosophical banners are setting aside their core beliefs – or worse – twisting and contorting those beliefs in wholly disappointing ways, conforming to the mandates of technocrats and politicians, and are convincing themselves that doing so is some grand act of solidarity with the most vulnerable people in our societies.
We say loudly that if the political tenets you promote and encourage in the best of times whither and shrink in times of crisis, then your political tenets are worthless. Any system of organization or any belief about human autonomy that needs to be set aside when history lays a challenge at our feet, is not worth keeping around when the emergency subsides. For truly, it is times of difficulty and challenge that place our ideas on the scale of utility to tell us whether or not they are as robust as we may believe.
As anarchists, autonomy over one’s own mind and body are essential to our values. We believe that human beings are intelligent enough to decide for themselves how to assess their surroundings and to make determinations on how to go forth living in a way that meets their needs and desires. Of course, we recognize that this autonomy comes packaged with genuine responsibility not only to one’s self, but to those with whom they are in community – including the non-human world. We certainly recognize that individuals may be asked for their cooperation in achieving a collective goal. But we also recognize the fundamental importance of consent in such situations, and that force and punishment are antithetical to an anarchist worldview.
That is why we write today. To reach out to our friends, our comrades, our intellectual and philosophical allies to ask that if you haven’t yet, that you please begin to seriously critique and question the state responses to the Covid19 pandemic that we are witnessing around the world. We have watched over the proceeding year, meekly, quietly, as other anarchists have toed the lines drawn by state bureaucrats. We have remained silent when witnessing anarchists act with hostility towards those who have pushed back against state mandated curfews and lockdown orders, only because those doing the most pushing are affiliated with right wing politics, unfortunately ceding this ground to the right wing, instead of forging their own critiques of state policy and thus providing an intellectual home for those who have in isolation grown antagonistic towards those in power who are trifling with our lives.
The impetus for this behavior amongst anarchists seems to be rooted in their desire to do well by those in need, and as this particular crisis is being caused by a virus, that seems to unfold as an enthusiastic willingness to accept state mandates and to shame those who would violate them. It is admirable to want to do well by the elderly and infirm, but that instinct is where the conversation should begin, not where we should resolve to set aside our fundamental principles and to justify this by taking technocrats and politicians at their words, using the pronouncements of sanctioned experts as a gospel by which to claim our lack of resistance to mandate is because the mandate makes such good sense.
Politicians lie. They select the analysis and the technicians who promote their agendas. Corporate executives line up to support them, knowing that the public purse is open to them when they do so. And the media, always wanting to be in the good graces of those with political and financial power, manufacture consent in twenty-four hour news cycles. We know this. We have libraries full of books that we have read and recommended explaining in detail the workings of this reality. Therefore, to be critical of politicians who declare that their emergency violations of basic freedoms are warranted by crisis is always a necessity. To be critical of pharmaceutical executives who tell the public that only they hold the keys to a future of freedom and safety, and of the media who act as propaganda machines in service of official narratives, is always a necessity.
Anarchists seem to know all of this instinctively when the war politicians want us to wage is a war fought with literal weapons, when the victims are more obvious, when the propaganda is more nationalist, xenophobic, and racist. But with the Covid19 crisis, the war being waged by those in power is ostensibly a war to save lives, and this shift in presentation seems to have effectively hacked the hearts and minds of so many anarchists who at the bottom of everything, carry a deep and genuine care for others.
But we must pull back and think critically about our situation. It is forgivable when in the throes of a quickly unfolding emergency, while lacking the information necessary to make confident decisions, to want to go along with the experts that are put before podiums when they ask that we all pull together for the greater good. That is no longer the situation. Much time has passed since SARS-COV-2 was a mysterious new respiratory virus infecting tens of people in Wuhan, to being a virus with global reach that has infected probably 20% of the human population*. Data has been pouring forth from researchers around the world, and there is now no excuse for fear based decision making, for accepting as gospel the perceptions and prescriptions stamped by the state and distributed by their lackeys in the media.
We believe that this crisis is like all the crises that came before it, in that it is a period of time in which those with power and wealth see an opportunity to extend their claws and to steal more of both. It is a moment of collective fear and uncertainty they can exploit to seize more control and to enrich themselves at the expense of the masses of humanity. The only thing that seems to separate the Covid19 crisis from those that came before it, is just how willing so much of the public (sadly including many anarchists) is to willingly and enthusiastically support the loss of their own autonomy.
*In early October The WHO reported an estimate that 10% of the global population had had Covid19. It is therefore reasonable that after a second winter in the Northern Hemisphere, that that number could have doubled.
The Science!!!
Right out of the gate we think it is very important to underscore the dangerous, quasi religious nature of how the media and state are pushing, and how the public is accepting, the notion of a unified scientific consensus on how to politically approach the question of Covid19. First and foremost, science is a method, a tool, and it’s foundational premise is that we must always ask questions, and we must always try to falsify our hypothesis. Science is absolutely NOT about consensus, as the right experiment conducted by one person can absolutely demolish established dogmas with new information, and that is science at its most glorious. Further, SARS-COV-2 is a virus that has been known to humanity at large for now just over one year. To suggest that there is a total and irrefutable understanding of it’s features and dynamics, and that all scientists and researchers and doctors everywhere are all in agreement as to what public policy should be to confront it, is absolutely false.
Also, we enter into very dangerous territory as a society when we allow, nay demand, that experts tucked away in labs using esoteric methods act as the only voices in the room to generate one-size-fits-all policy declarations for entire nations that span massive geographical terrain, for nations populated with vastly diverse groups of human beings who all have different needs. This kind of technocracy is a great cause for concern, as are any pronouncements that those who are skeptical of such schemes of social manipulation are somehow intellectual dullards or that that are anti-scientific.
Science is a tool to illuminate humanity through the elucidation of cause and effect mechanisms. It is a process of discovery. What we do with that illumination, how we go about our lives with the information discovered, is up to us as individuals and as communities.
And finally, it is very easy to fall into a trap of finding competing experts. One side has an expert who says X and the other side finds an expert who says Y, and then we’re at an impasse. This is not our intent, however, we feel we are in a double-bind if we do not at some level demonstrate that the narrative out forth by the state and their lap dog media is not as rooted in scientific fact as they would like us to believe. If we do not present some amount of counter evidence, we risk being dismissed out of hand as ignorant, individualists, whose true motivations are “selfish.” Cracking through a billion dollar narrative that has been crafted by state and private media around the globe for the better part of a year, all in service of generating an atmosphere of fear and thus compliance, is no easy task, and so, we will now point to some research below in an effort to help our readers build a reality-based, data-backed understanding of the current situation, not to position ourselves as possessing some secret alternative knowledge, but merely to demonstrate that there does exist research that makes many state mandates seem preposterous even from a scientific perspective.
Research
The underlying premise behind lockdowns, closures, and curfews is that these efforts can stop the spread of SARS-COV-2. But can they accomplish this? This is a nuanced question. First, we would acknowledge that if you could isolate every human in their own bubble, yes, you could burn out probably many diseases (while causing a variety of new harms). But that isn’t how a mandate functions in reality. Even excluding the shadowy scofflaws who are blamed for the failures of these lockdown efforts from California to London because of their failure to comply with perfection, the fact is that modern civilization requires a massive amount of daily labor in order to prevent it’s immediate collapse, and that labor requires human beings to come into contact with each other, and to travel great distances.
Everything from farm work, to long haul trucking. Power plant operation to plumbers making house calls. Doctors must go to hospital, as must the janitorial and kitchen staff. Fertilizer factories must keep producing for the following season, and so too must the sprawling data centers remain operational for all the white collar professionals to be able to meet via Zoom. Then there are the Amazon warehouses and Wal-Marts! How could we lockdown without our daily deliveries? The list of industries and institutions that cannot close if we expect to have heated homes, drinkable water, functional electric grids, drivable roads, and every other support system of modern life, is very long, and each of them requires human beings to keep them functional. This fact alone means there could never be a 100% lockdown of the population.
Of course, there is the obvious side note that a majority of the labor that must continue, is low wage and/or blue collar. This fact alone makes the very idea of lockdowns a classist enterprise, but this fact has been discussed widely, so we shall move on.
Remember too, these massive lockdowns were never intended (in most places, at the outset) to eliminate Covid19. They were intended to “flatten the curve,” which translates to, “slow the spread” of SARS-COV-2 so that hospitals would not be overwhelmed. It should be noted that most hospitals in most locales, never faced this threat, and that even if it is a good idea to prevent hospital overrun, plans to prevent such a scenario would need to be local, not national, or even statewide. As the year progressed, slowly, the perception of the intent of lockdowns has blurred, and politicians and their selected experts have been consistently extending shutdowns, now shifting the rhetoric to focus on the eradication of the virus. This is unacceptable in that it is likely impossible.
As to these lockdown measures and their efficacy, research has found that they do not have much of an effect when it comes to reducing total caseload:

“Conclusions: While small benefits cannot be excluded, we do not find significant benefits on case growth of more restrictive NPIs. Similar reductions in case growth may be achievable with less restrictive interventions.”

Another paper concludes:

“Higher Covid death rates are observed in the [25/65°] latitude and in the [−35/−125°] longitude ranges. The national criteria most associated with death rate are life expectancy and its slowdown, public health context (metabolic and non-communicable diseases (NCD) burden vs. infectious diseases prevalence), economy (growth national product, financial support), and environment (temperature, ultra-violet index). Stringency of the measures settled to fight pandemic, including lockdown, did not appear to be linked with death rate.”

We must absolutely understand that no intervention comes without its costs, and when an intervention involves distance, isolation, and the shut down of people’s usual outlets for social interaction and support, those costs are borne by the physical, mental, and emotional health of the public. We cannot destroy public health to save public health. This editorial from the British Medical Journal states:

“Lockdowns can also cause long term health harms, such as from delayed treatment and investigations. Delays in the diagnosis and treatment of various types of cancer, for example, can allow progression of cancer and affect patients’ survival. A three month delay to surgery is estimated to cause more than 4700 deaths a year in the UK. In the US, delays in screening and treatment are estimated to cause 250,000 additional preventable deaths of cancer patients each year. Furthermore, a sharp decrease in the number of admissions for acute coronary syndromes and emergency coronary procedures has been observed since the start of the pandemic in the US and Europe. In England, the weekly number of hospital admissions for coronary syndromes fell by 40% between mid-February and the end of March 2020. Fear of exposure to the virus stopped many patients from attending hospital, putting them at increased risk of long term complications of myocardial infarction.”

Despite the push by the people in power to present their preferred draconian measures as totally supported by “the science,” there is much disagreement amongst researchers and doctors as to how best to move through this crisis. Scientific American writes:

“In today’s COVID-19 wars, the global scientific divide leans heavily in favor of active, and sometimes even draconian, public health interventions, including widespread locking down of nonessential business, mandating masks, restricting travel and imposing quarantines. On the other side, some doctors, scientists and public health officials are questioning the wisdom of this approach in the face of massive unknowns about their efficacy and in light of the clear and growing evidence that such measures may not be working in some cases, and may also be causing net harm. As people are thrown out of work as a direct result of lockdowns, and as more and more families find themselves unable to cover their rent or food, there have been sharp increases in domestic violence, homelessness and illegal drug use.”

When justifying harsh lockdowns and curfews, many people lean into the danger presented by Covid19, without fully understanding the actual level of threat posed by the illness. Due to the alarmist posture of the media – an industry we know bases their success on capturing attention, and which also goes to great pains to push official political narratives – many people believe that an infection with SARS-COV-2 is far more deadly than it actually is. According to a study authored by Stanford’s John P. Ioannidis, the Infection Fatality Rate globally is quite low:

“Infection fatality rate in different locations can be inferred from seroprevalence studies. While these studies have caveats, they show IFR ranging from 0.00% to 1.54% across 82 study estimates. Median IFR across 51 locations is 0.23% for the overall population and 0.05% for people <70 years old. IFR is larger in locations with higher overall fatalities. Given that these 82 studies are predominantly from hard‐hit epicenters, IFR on a global level may be modestly lower. Average values of 0.15%‐0.20% for the whole global population and 0.03%‐0.04% for people <70 years old as of October 2020 are plausible. These values agree also with the WHO estimate of 10% global infection rate (hence, IFR ~ 0.15%) as of early October 2020.”

We also are aware of a common sentiment that lockdowns could eliminate SARS-COV-2 if only they were stricter, and if only every person participated perfectly. This is the sort of unfalsifiable thinking that politicians and pundits like to push to excuse the failure of previous measures to have the desired outcomes, as well as to target their opposing politicians who they like to insist “dropped the ball,” and who should therefore bear the blame for the pandemic’s toll. Any policy that requires 100% compliance is doomed to fail from the outset. Even ignoring our earlier point about the labor required to maintain society, there will never be 100% compliance from all human beings on anything.
We think it is also necessary to make plain that a new coronavirus is not something that would be detected immediately by doctors or researchers when it makes its first jump from animal to human. Because coronaviruses are common, and because they induce similar symptoms (as well as having a symptom course similar to other forms of respiratory viruses), and as SARS-COV-2 is not symptomatic in a third of people who contract it, it is not surprising that it was circulating the Earth before anyone knew to look for it.
It has now been confirmed that SARS-COV-2 was circulating in Italy in September of 2019:

“SARS-CoV-2 RBD-specific antibodies were detected in 111 of 959 (11.6%) individuals, starting from September 2019 (14%), with a cluster of positive cases (>30%) in the second week of February 2020 and the highest number (53.2%) in Lombardy. This study shows an unexpected very early circulation of SARS-CoV-2 among asymptomatic individuals in Italy several months before the first patient was identified, and clarifies the onset and spread of the coronavirus disease 2019”

It was circulating in the UK in December:

“Professor Tim Spector, epidemiologist at King’s College London, leads the Zoe Covid Symptom Study, tracking symptoms reported by patients during the pandemic. He said data collected “clearly shows many people had the virus back in December”.

It was also circulating in the US back in late fall of 2019:

“These confirmed reactive sera included 39/1,912 (2.0%) donations collected between December 13-16, 2019, from residents of California (23/1,912) and Oregon or Washington (16/1,912). Sixty seven confirmed reactive (67/5,477, 1.2%) donations were collected between December 30, 2019, and January 17, 2020, from residents of Massachusetts (18/5,477), Wisconsin or Iowa (22/5,477), Michigan (5/5,477), and Connecticut or Rhode Island (33/5,477).”

Other examples exist demonstrating that SARS-COV-2 was circulating in various countries around the world prior to confirmation of its existence coming out of China. As time unfolds, it is likely we will get a fuller picture of what this circulation looked like, but we can safely presume that if there are antibodies within people on various continents in December of 2019, that circulation of the virus would have begun months prior to that. And we point this fact out, again, to emphasize that there was likely no lockdown measure that could have been implemented to snuff out the virus, as it had already gotten such an incredible head start.
On Principle
As anarchists, there are principles we return to as guiding stars in the dark night of the unknown, and these include freedom, autonomy, consent, and a deep belief in the ability of people to self-organize for their maximum benefit as individuals and as communities. No one knows one’s needs better than they do themselves, and truly, most people have self-preservation instincts that cause them to select behaviors that lead to their own safety and survival, as well as that of those they care for.
At the outset of the pandemic, when information was scant, we very much witnessed people making choices to distance themselves from crowds and gatherings they did not believe were essential, while they also began efforts to support and care for those who might be more vulnerable to a circulating respiratory illness that did not have well established treatment courses within the medical field.
While we welcome information and data, even that which is unpleasant, that describes the continually unfolding circumstances, we also believe that people need to be trusted to analyze that information. The current paradigm has the state and their selected technocratic experts filtering the available data and only highlighting that which supports the policy decisions they already decided to implement without any public input. Information and analysis that can be considered “good news” has been largely ignored by the state and their technocrats, while also being blacked out by the media.
“Experts” can always be found to justify horrors. Indeed, we would likely be hard pressed to find a case in recent history in which massive crimes against humanity did not come packaged with a stamp of approval from some consortium of experts whom everyone else was asked to blindly trust. The Covid19 pandemic is no different, and as anarchists we just ask that you remember that debate, critique, and dissent are all essential components of societies that value liberation and autonomy. We ask that whatever you decide about the efficacy of lockdown measures, that you recognize no situation, no matter how dire it may seem, warrants edicts from on high that use the threat of force and violence to accomplish their aims.
Our steadfast commitment to human autonomy, and to our belief that no authority is valid without the consent of those it is exercised over, is what makes anarchism a thing apart from other political philosophies. We will not abandon this commitment, and hope that you will not either.