This is shockingly disturbing that the Government of Alberta, through an official spokesperson, is adopting and amplifying a non-expert’s OpEd of a non-peer reviewed and highly questionable paper. It speaks of a Government relying on confirmation bias rather than on evidence.

1/ https://twitter.com/katy_merrifield/status/1318950844453146624

A huge red flag is the reference to the Great Barrington Declaration. It has been shown that it is not a reliable document, and there has been no effort to verify the names of people who have signed it (including many obvious fake names).

2/ https://twitter.com/davidjuurlink/status/1316701611562065924

Moreover, it is based on a doctor’s views of the economic impact of lockdowns citing *one* cherry-picked economist. To be clear: economists almost universally agree that the economy will not and cannot function properly during the pandemic. Economists support lockdown.

3/

To say nothing about the utter impossibility of trying to isolate/protect the more vulnerable portion of society (example is British, but rationale extends).

4/ https://twitter.com/neildotobrien/status/1317046902605729792

Not to mention that looking only at death rates is incredibly shortsighted. Virtually all parents now have personal experience of having to keep children at home until they can be tested because of an exposure or because the child had some kind of a symptom.

5/

Yet, this misguided approach appears to be official government policy. The Premier’s Office is relying on OpEds based on an uncritical read of a non-reviewed and highly questionable paper (so uncritical that the author’s name wasn’t even reported correctly). This is batshit.

6/6

Addendum: perhaps this explains the following:

Ottawa has 717 active cases, 48 in hospital, 6 in ICU and is in a partial lockdown and mandatory masks.

Calgary has 1,043 active cases, 42 in hospital, 4 in ICU

Edmonton has 1,607 active cases, 63 in hospital, 8 in ICU.

7/7