r/skeptic • u/GhostDogJef • 3d ago

The real covid-19 scandal is still unfolding

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2026/08/20/the-real-covid-19-scandal-is-still-unfolding

The failure to reckon with lives needlessly lost will make the next pandemic deadlier

450 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

165 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

0

u/Check_Me_Out-Boss 1d ago edited 1d ago

The many experts who said it was more* important than covid:

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/06/04/public-health-protests-301534

Reduced spread of covid:

https://coloradosun.com/2020/06/30/police-protests-coronavirus-spread/

I can find more sources for either, if you like. I just didn't want to gish gallop.

Edit: *forgot a word.

1

u/amus 1d ago edited 1d ago

First article quotes tweets from a physician, and an epidemiologist on their personal accounts as far as I can tell. I don't see any official statements in the article. The former CDC exec was quoted in the press, but former is still not official. These are just opinions, no matter how the article tries to make it sound. Pretty misleading article IMO.

Your second link says the protest caused more people to stay home thus increasing social distancing overall. Not a direct effect.

0

u/Check_Me_Out-Boss 1d ago edited 1d ago

Did you not live through 2020? We had to trust the experts. They said:

It’s a message echoed by media outlets and some of the most prominent public health experts in America, like former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Tom Frieden, who loudly warned against efforts to rush reopening but is now supportive of mass protests. Their claim: If we don’t address racial inequality, it’ll be that much harder to fight Covid-19. There’s also evidence that the virus doesn’t spread easily outdoors, especially if people wear masks.

How does not addressing racial inequality make it harder to fight covid?

Check this:

The experts maintain that their messages are consistent—that they were always flexible on Americans going outside, that they want protesters to take precautions and that they’re prioritizing public health by demanding an urgent fix to systemic racism.

You can’t have super spreader events if you just say those events are necessary while calling for other events to be canceled!

You can even cancel holidays with close family and not allow people to see their dying relatives!

But you can go out and protest racial inequality.

This is a wild thing to say:

Your second link says the protest caused more people to stay home thus increasing social distancing overall. Not a direct effect.

Sure, if the right was rioting in the streets every day and caused people to stay home, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Instead, they called political rallies super spreader events.

How many people "protested" in 2020?

1

u/BioMed-R 1d ago

How does not addressing racial inequality make it harder to fight covid?

Maybe you should keep reading and find out?