In the great initial Covid panic in Feb & March governments thought a surge of Covid patients would exceed hospital capacity everywhere so a big push to clear as many beds as possible occurred, including sending Covid patients back to nursing homes, causing >half of Covid deaths https://twitter.com/KoenSwinkels/status/1265147490954772482

Another key part of the early Covid panic was the thought ventilators should be used widely, in part to protect healthcare workers, bec alternative ventilation methods increased risk of transmission. And that was crucial bec Covid was seen as very dangerous to healthy ppl as well

A third key part of the initial Covid panic was the belief transmission could easily occur anywhere, and so we should lock ourselves indoors and not go outside

And this policy based on a false belief prompted the lockdown which likely greatly increased (intrafamily) transmission

So 3 key parts of the initial Covid panic —all false beliefs— caused 3 policies that had devastating effects and may have caused a large percentage of all Covid patients.

1. Everybody is at great risk => protect healthcare workers by using ventilators
2. There is a significant transmission risk everywhere => put everybody on lockdown
3. Expect a big surge of Covid patients => clear hospitals, send patients to nursing homes, suspend elective care

1. Excessive ventilator use led to more deaths
2. Lockdowns led to intrafamily transmission, & not building up of herd immunity
3. Suspending elective care led to lot of non-Covid deaths & suffering, sending Covid patients to nursing homes led to massive outbreaks & deaths there