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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <a
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href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/06/10/lockdowns-single-biggest-public-health-mistake-history-says/">telegraph.co.uk</a>
<h1 class="reader-title">Lockdowns are 'the single biggest
public health mistake in history', says top scientist</h1>
<div class="credits reader-credits">By
Phoebe Southworth
10 June 2021 • 6:00am</div>
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<p><a
href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/06/09/covid-lockdown-roadmap-june-21-rules-restrictions-lifting-when-end/">Lockdowns</a>
will be seen as the "single biggest public health
mistake" in history, a Stanford University professor has
warned.</p>
<p>Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of medicine, told The
Telegraph's <a
href="https://telegraph.co.uk/planet-normal">Planet
Normal podcast</a>, which you can listen to using the
audio player above, that there have been "enormous
collateral consequences" of keeping people inside and
isolating them from their loved-ones during the Covid-19
pandemic.</p>
<p>The epidemiologist believes many scientists have clung
onto the perceived <a
href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/06/08/covid-deaths-lowest-level-since-first-lockdown-ons-finds/">effectiveness
of lockdowns</a>, and they "remain attached" to the
idea despite the "failure of this strategy".</p>
<p>"I do think that future historians will look back on
this and say this was the single biggest public health
mistake, possibly of all history, in terms of the scope
of the harm that it's caused," said Prof Bhattacharya.</p>
<p>"Every single poor person on the face of the earth has
faced some harm, sometimes catastrophic harm, from this
lockdown policy.</p>
<p>"Almost from the very beginning, lockdown was going to
have enormous collateral consequences, things that are
sometimes hard to see but are nevertheless real."</p>
<p>Prof Bhattacharya gave the example of children who are
abused at home, who may have been unable to get the help
they need during lockdowns because there are no adults
present who could step in.</p>
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<p>In addition, many patients with serious illnesses or
who may have an undiagnosed illness have been reluctant
to attend hospital over fears of catching the virus, he
said.</p>
<p>"All of those kinds of harms, I think, even from the
very beginning were going on. And yet we closed our eyes
to them because we were so scared about the virus and so
enamoured with this idea that the lockdown could stop
the virus."</p>
<p><i>Listen to Planet Normal, a weekly Telegraph podcast
featuring news and views from beyond the bubble, using
the audio player above or subscribe for free on <a
href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/planet-normal/id1514949294">Apple
Podcasts</a>, <a
href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6eq60us4awtElUdUNBnyq7">Spotify</a> or
your preferred podcast app.</i></p>
<h5>Join Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan to discuss
lockdowns, public health and the latest Planet Normal
episode in the comments section of this article at 11am
on Thursday June 10.</h5>
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