During the pandemic, most of the media turned its back on its core obligation to question authorities, and instead became their mouthpiece. David Zweig was one of a small band of journalists who kept demanding proof about our Covid policies, and whose reporting challenged the rationale for lockdowns. We were proud to publish some of David Zweig’s breakthrough findings during the pandemic, and we are delighted to present this adapted excerpt from his new book, An Abundance of Caution: American Schools, the Virus, and a Story of Bad Decisions. As prominent voices continue to defend terrible decisions made by our officials during the pandemic, Zweig’s book is the corrective we need.
In the span of one week in March 2020, the entire school system in America shut down. The academic year for more than 50 million students was over, blasting a hole in the calendar three months wide. A master switch had been flipped by the governors of every state—a vast, unprecedented exercise of authority.
While we were told the decision was based on science—and was for our own good—there was no evidence for the benefits of what would soon become lengthy school closures. Well before we shut down our schools, evidence from outside the U.S. showed that children were largely unaffected by Covid-19, and that they were not the primary drivers of transmission.
After a brief shutdown, many of Europe’s schools reopened in the spring, welcoming back millions of children, and the data show what happened next: a long decline in cases. European Union ministers announced in May, and again in June, that they had seen no negative impact on society from opening schools. Their comments should have made headlines and quelled concerns in the U.S. Instead, they were largely ignored by our officials and the mainstream media.
