It's not only experts that have been censored during the Covid crisis, it is also anyone who attempts to promote or defend them ...

On November 25, 2021 I attempted to submit a comment on the website sciencebasedmedicine.org in response to the article posted there on November 19, 2021 by Jonathan Howard, "Contrarian Doctors: The Pandemic is Over, Again", which attacked many scientists who have opposed various aspects of the response to the Covid and produced scientific evidence that ran contrary to claims made by other scientists or the media. My comment was immeditely removed, and the appeal I made to reconsider my post was rejected.

What follows is my original submission:

"There are many inaccuracies in Dr. Howard's article, the definition of "contrarian" being just one, but to address that vague and empty accusation leveled at Dr. Michael Levitt, the author finds only 2 instances where they claim are grounds for that label: the 1st is not considered in the context of his work, and the 2nd is pure insinuation with zero substance. Dr. Levitt’s analysis of the Diamond Princess made public 20 March 2020 estimated that the amount of deaths during the Covid pandemic would likely be 1 months’ worth of normal death (ie., 8.5% of normal death) and had a an upper end of 2 month's worth (red box in pic)

Dr. Levitt also said for the US the higher end of 2 month's worth could be more. This has proved extremely accurate, as the United States currently has excess deaths well within that range, at about 1.5 month's worth of normal death, with a world-wide average of under 1 month.

The 1st Tweet referred to by the author from 25 Jul 2020 of 170k deaths 4 weeks from that date being the pandemic end was a mistaken hope that it would end with deaths below his initial predictions stated above. Instead in that Tweet what Dr. Levitt predicted was the end of the first wave. In that Dr. Levitt was very accurate on time, off by about a week, as that wave ended the week of 3 September 2020, and accurate on number with Covid-listed deaths at about 175,000.

The 2nd issue raised against Dr. Levitt is a complete insinuation of some sort of wrong-doing and error which in reality doesn't exist. The case and deaths numbers are plain to see, the stated CFR for the UK is correct, recent waves CFR has dropped significantly, and importantly this has happened while case numbers are similar. As to Florida, their 1st wave had peak CFR ~1.5%, it dropped to 1.2% during the 2nd wave, then back to 1.5% for the most recent wave. This is typical of some climates that are less affected by season, whereas in northern climate like the UK more dramatic waves are common. Its very clear that the Delta variant is not more deadly than the original, not even in Florida.

Dr. Howard’s effort to hype deaths also falls very flat, “over one in a million” children means over just 0.0001% of that population; Covid deaths for under 17 year olds are 605 (CDC), thats 8 deaths per million or 0.0009%. But those are not even excess death. (source CDC & population). By calling on the various people the author has attacked to stop talking about Covid if they claim the pandemic is over shows the author and his supporters' disdain for science. By this logic we should not study anything unless it is declared an international crisis. With regards to pandemics ending, we will quickly get into trouble with definitions again. Definitions are so important and liable for twisting in this crisis: What is a pandemic? The CDC definition is “an epidemic that has spread over several countries or continents usually affecting a large number of people”. What’s large? And what then is an epidemic? The CDC says: “The amount of a particular disease that is usually present in a community is referred to as the baseline or endemic level of the disease. This level is not necessarily the desired level, which may in fact be 0, but rather is the observed level.” The pandemic being over does not mean 0 Covid. The people who are labeled as ‘contrarians’ are not opposed to academic discussion of the virus, they continually encourage open conversation about it, rather they are opposed to actions of the media, the scientific community, and governments to the virus. There is nowhere in the world where everyone is not affected by it, and in these circumstances one is required to defend scientific method and inquiry, the best way to do that is through practicing it and speaking out against pure hysteria."