A Different Perspective on the COVID-19 Pandemic: Validity of COVID-19 Testing and Protective Nonpharmaceutical...

The causative agent for COVID-19 was identified by next-generation sequencing from samples received from several pneumonia patients. The detection of the coronavirus was done through real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses performed from plasma sample. Ribonucleic acid extracted from a patient's bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was used as a template to clone and sequence a genome from lineage B of the betacoronavirus. A polymerase chain reaction test was considered positive using cycle threshold above 34 for detected samples. Tests with thresholds so high will detect genetic leftover fragments, which pose no particular risk. No correlation between viral load and disease severity has ever been connected to a virus. On the basis of the little science centered on misleading mortality calculations and most importantly on mathematical disease modeling, generalized lockdowns were imposed on a global scale, with a considerable number of fatalities and resulting in global economic breakdown. Most studies found little to no evidence for the effectiveness of face masks in the general population, neither as personal protective equipment nor as a source control. In this review, we attempted to expose a different perspective of some aspects of the pandemic related to disease diagnosis and protective nonpharmacologic interventions. Our viewpoint raises serious questions on the validity of such restrictive measures in saving lives and warn against the application of such damaging strategies in a potential future outbreak.