b'B ookR eviewBY JENIN YOUNES, ATTORNEYCoronaFalse Alarm?Facts and FiguresBy Dr. Karina Reiss and Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi (ISBN-13: 978-1-64502-057-8;Chelsea Green Publishing; 2020, paperback, 160 pages; $14.95)W hatiftheWorldvastlyoveres- ber of infections at any stage of the epidemic timatedtheseriousnessofthein [Germany] (22). Other countries face similar coronavirusandeffectuatedproblems. The authors quote Professor Walter countermeasures that wrought far more damageRicciardi, an advisor to the Italian Ministry of than the disease itself? That is the central ques- Health, for example, who stated that the virus tion that Drs. Karina Reiss and Sucharit Bhakdi,had not actually been the true cause of 88% of a biochemist and microbiologist/immunologist,Italian deaths attributed to it (25). Altogether, respectively, set out to answer in CoronaFalsethe authors make a powerful case that this Alarm? Facts and Figures. Needless to say, theySARS-CoV-2 is in the realm of seasonal influ-do so affirmatively! enza, with an infection fatality rate of 0.27 % From a lay perspective, I admit to having(17-29). That certainly calls into question the long been skeptical of most countries responsesdrasticmeasuresimplementedaroundthe to the virus, believing that the consequencesWorld to combat the virus. of locking down societies for months or evenTheauthorsacknowledgethatcertain years on end would far outweigh the benefits,areasexperiencedhigherdeathrates,spe-if not at present, certainly in the long run. Butcifically parts of the United Kingdom, Italy, I accepted the common wisdom that the virus,Spain, and, of course, New York City. Special while no more dangerous than the flu to thosecircumstances, they posit, account for the ele-under 50, presents a significant risk to thosevated death counts. Those include avoidance of over 60 years old.eases dangerousness. hospitals for fear of catching the virus by those The authors argue, however, that SARS- In violation of all international medicalsuffering from heart attacks and strokes (United CoV-2 is akin to a run-of-the-mill respiratoryguidelines every deceased person who hadKingdom), an elderly population, poor air qual-virus, as most of its victims are already so ill thattested positive for the virus entered the officiality, other vaccinations that, in combination with it is almost always the last straw that breaksrecords as a coronavirus victim (16). Whencoronavirus infections, could cause adverse re-the camels back (p. 30). This is a controversialdeaths are counted properly, Reiss and Bhakdiactions (Italy), and undocumented immigrants thesis, even amongst experts who are critical ofargue, it becomes evident that only those withfearing detection and so refusing to go to the extreme policies implemented in response to theserious underlying conditions are at risk ofhospital (New York City) (34-39). These con-virus. Nevertheless, the authors make a persua- dying, and those without severe preexistingtributing factors indicate that severe outcomes sive case. illness need fear the virus no more than youngcouldbedrasticallyreducedbyaddressing Published by Chelsea Green, a companypeople. Stated otherwise, the virus simplysome of these other problems, and do not war-that promote[s] the politics and practice ofdoes not present a significant risk, beyondrant assigning SARS-CoV-2 a special status as a sustainable living, Corona was first releasedthose we take in everyday life, to healthy, olderkiller virus.in Germany over the Summer, and the Englishpeople, much less young healthy people (16-25,Reiss and Bhakdi then thoroughly explore version will become available in early October.30-35). the adverse effects of misguided attempts to The most compelling parts are the first severalVarious problems with the accuracy of PCRcontrol the coronavirus. While they discuss neg-chapters in which the authors explain how flawstesting and methods of data collection also areative health consequences of mask-wearing (55), in diagnostics and criteria for attributing deathsaddressed and lead to the conclusion that notheir focus is on lockdowns and forced social to the virus led to a distorted picture of the dis- reliable data existed regarding the true num- distancing. Such policies have caused economic 28 H ealtHF reedomN ews /F all2020HFN_FALL-2020_11-02-2020-FINAL.indd 28 11/2/20 8:50 PM'