Governor Wolf tested positive for COVID, and it illustrates two things very clearly; the shutdowns don’t work, and the shutdowns need to be made stricter. The simple truth is that yet again; we can look at a cup of water and see it half empty and half full at the same time.

I would not wish COVID on my worst enemy, and I am thankful that the governor has not reported any symptoms. But if there should have been one person in the state who would not get COVID, it would Governor Tom Wolf. He would obviously have the advantage of every precaution that could be taken. Somehow, though, the virus was able to penetrate all these screenings.

But yet again, as the number of cases rose, Governor Wolf defaulted to stricter control measures throughout the state. Many believe that this is the only alternative, but could there be a different option other than one that causes tremendous economic hardship for everyone?

Yes, and it is not a reactionary, right-wing diatribe but a strategy developed by three of the world’s leading epidemiologists; Dr. Sunetra Gupta of Oxford University, Dr. Martin Kuldorff of Harvard University, and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University. These three met in early October in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and developed what they called the Great Barrington Declaration (https://gbdeclaration.org).

Reader alert! This declaration has been absolutely disparaged by ‘experts’ for everything but bad grammar. A Google search will reveal at least twenty times more ‘anti’ Barrington Declaration hits than those for it. To read these critics, it would seem that these three epidemiologists were total idiots. The thousands of other medical experts from worldwide who have signed the declaration and have translated this document into 41 different languages are all a bunch of fools. What are they proposing that is so controversial?

“As infectious disease epidemiologists and public health scientists, we have grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies and recommend an approach we call Focused Protection. Coming from both the left and right and around the world, we have devoted our careers to protecting people. Current lockdown policies are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health. Those who are not vulnerable should immediately be allowed to resume life as normal. Simple hygiene measures, such as hand washing and staying home when sick, should be practiced by everyone to reduce the herd immunity threshold. Schools and universities should be open for in-person teaching. Extracurricular activities, such as sports, should be resumed. Young, low-risk adults should work normally, rather than from home. Restaurants and other businesses should open. Arts, music, sport, and other cultural activities should resume. People who are more at risk may participate if they wish, while society as a whole enjoys the protection conferred upon the vulnerable by those who have built up herd immunity.” (excerpts from “The Great Barrington Declaration”).

Can we not at least look in a different direction rather than continue to shut down everything that does not move and wait, wait, wait until we get the ‘all clear’ sign. I have contacted the governor about the Great Barrington Declaration and asked him to reconsider the draconian actions than he has again instituted. I would encourage anyone who shares these same concerns to do the same (https://www.governor.pa.gov/contact).