In this February 10, 2022 article for News.Com.Au, Frank Chung reports on the interview between Germany’s Die Welt newspaper and Dr. Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South Africa Medical Association (SAMA) reveals that European governments had asked her to portray the new strains to be as serious as previous COVID variants.

She said, “I was told not to publicly state that it was a mild illness. I have been asked to refrain from making such statements and to say that it is a serious illness. I declined”. Apparently, “they tried” to prevent her from telling the truth, but she says, “they will not silence me”.

Dr. Coetzee also described the kind of attacks she received. She said, “They are accusing me of lying, of downplaying Omicron because of how it has been in Europe … in their minds, it is impossible for a disease with more than 38 mutations to be mild. But I have stated many times before it can be a serious illness if you are unvaccinated and have comorbidities but for the majority of people it is a mild illness. I am the one who has seen the patients first-hand but the politicians won’t listen.”

Editor’s Note: We will remember in a press briefing last January 2022, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned against treating Omicron as “mild”. Was he forced to make such a declaration because Dr. Coetzee refused to cooperate?

We must note, also that Dr. Coetzee is not alone in saying that Omicron is mild and will not cause severe disease to most people. Researches have been made on this, though most of which has been ignored by mainstream media [Here are a few sources Early lab studies hint Omicron may be milder. But most scientists reserve judgment, New Omicron Studies Help Explain Why Variant Is Mild but Spreads Fast, More Studies Show Why Omicron is Mild and Spreads Fast; Early Reports Suggest Immunity From Prior Infection Effective Against Variant, Study suggests omicron symptoms more mild due to less lung damage, Omicron IS milder as bombshell studies show hospitalisation risk is HALVED, Omicron is inherently far milder, massive CDC-backed study finds].

So what then was Ghebreyesus’ reason for refusing to acknowledge that Omicron is not the “dreaded” variant they wanted it to be?

Just think about this: estimates of the infection fatality rate (IFR) of COVID as of February 2021 is 0.15% [read New estimates put COVID infection fatality rate at 0.15%]. This IFR would drop even lower with Omicron, which is believed to be 80% less likely to cause hospitalization and 70% less likely to cause severe disease compared to Delta^[1]https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-22/omicron-hospitalization-risk-two-thirds-below-delta-study-shows.

Think back to all the restrictions you and your children have experienced and compare that IFR to the seasonal flu which has an IFR of 0.1%^[2]https://medium.com/microbial-instincts/clarifying-the-true-fatality-rate-of-covid-19-same-as-the-flu-8148e38b9ab5. Now answer this: are all the lockdowns, quarantine protocols, travel bans, and masking and vaccine mandates worth it when we compare it to the massive impact it has on the economy, overall health, and our children’s development?

Would you have accepted lockdowns and all the COVID mandates if the government told you that COVID was as deadly as the bad flu?

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