A long-suspected fear of the Covid-19 lockdowns is starting to come to light. In many parts of the world doctors are pointing to a very real probability that lockdown orders are leading to people dying from other serious maladies as a result of avoiding hospitals. Heart attacks in particular are now looked at as a cause of death greater than the coronavirus itself.
Almost from the beginning of our pandemic lockdowns there have been questions raised over both the wisdom behind the decisions and the broad application of the quarantine orders. Recall early on that Americans were lectured about the necessity of a two-week lockdown “to bend the curve,” yet with the death rate plunging, we still have many areas in the country under harsh restrictions.
It was with no small amount of dark irony at Wednesday night’s Democratic National Convention that a segment was dedicated to the need to repair our handicapped economy. This was truly a brazen moment, as the people who were saying we need to get Americans back to work are from the same party that has had its governors arresting people for trying to go back to work. The goalposts have been repeatedly pushed further out; from bending the curve, to avoiding the second spike, to now awaiting a vaccine. Meanwhile, little press coverage has been applied to the effects of these orders.
Some have speculated that other effects created by the distancing can be just as harsh, from the psyche of children and the insufficient care for the infirm to suicides brought on by the anxiety. Now a study has come out from doctors in Colorado showing other grievous collateral damage has been taking place. One study in Colorado had doctors looking into the drop in cardiac cases in hospitals and noted it was a direct correlation to the quarantine orders.
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“At Denver Health and other large hospitals across the metro area, the number of people showing up with cardiac emergencies dropped significantly as the state imposed increasingly strict measures encouraging people to stay at home to slow the virus’ spread,” the article states. This was a verifiable fact. The amount of ambulance usage had gone down immediately after the lockdown orders, and parallel to that, those dying from cardiac problems at home spiked.
In that period the amount of home-based cardiac arrests doubled, and the deaths from heart attacks exceeded those of Covid-19 cases. This concerned just one malady: heart attacks. And this was hardly isolated to Colorado. Nationwide and even globally this same result has been recorded. In parts of Europe doctors have shown that they too have seen the drops in admissions for heart issues while the deaths from the same have greatly elevated.
In Milan, Italy, one hospital reports STEMI cases (heart attacks) plunged by 70 percent. In Spain, the drop has been 40 percent, with estimates in Madrid being as high as an 80 percent drop in cases. At one hospital in Madrid they are averaging three-to-four heart cases a week, when those are usually their daily admission rates. This regards only heart condition cases, with one doctor stating they are barely seeing any admissions for other serious conditions. A cardiologist in Boston detailed that he went a week without seeing a single heart case come in, something he has never experienced prior in 13 years of attending.
Again, this is in regard to just the heart attack situations. Hospitals have also reported a significant drop in admissions for other serious conditions, and even urgent referrals between hospitals have dissipated. This is a side effect of hysterical media reports and politicians overextending their reach of power. By overhyping the threat of this virus, they are compelling people to avoid seeking out urgent emergency services.
As an example of this, the Colorado situation is illustrated by the severe rise in deaths that is a factor greater than COVID-19. In the month of April – at the onset of the firm lockdown orders – The Colorado Sun found the state experienced its highest death toll in history, with a noted rise in deaths over a number of non-COVID related issues. That spike in mortality exceeded the influence of COVID-related death counts and population growth. This is a strong indicator of people succumbing to treatable issues as a result of foregoing hospital treatments.
At some point it needs to be recognized that the lockdowns are leading to problems which exceed those of the virus itself. If it continues to be shown that the restrictions put in place in the name of public safety are actually threatening a greater number of the public, then a serious rebuke of these policies is in order.
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