Serial purveyor of all the wrong opinions Andrew Bolt has released his latest shit take unto the masses, and as usual, he’s wrong.
In a Sunday Herald Sun column, Bolt decided to take aim at the lockdown restrictions which are a key factor in flattening the curve of the coronavirus pandemic at the moment.
Despite the fact we’ve seen the pandemic spiral out of control in countries where lockdowns either weren’t implemented or widely obeyed, Bolt reckons the real victims here are… golfers.
He argued that while scientists initially predicted around 60,000 deaths in NSW, more recent modelling says the lockdown instead saved “just” 700 lives, and this means the lockdown has been an overreaction.
The original modelling “predictions panicked politicians into imposing extreme bans which are now clearly way over the top,” he wrote.
“Take bans on going to the beach, sitting in a park, camping or – in Victoria – fishing and golfing.”
Typically, modelling of novel viruses becomes more accurate over time. Typically, scientists err on the side of caution so as not to massively underestimate death tolls. Typically, modelling is often revised without being slammed by the general public for being different to what initial models forecasted.
But none of this matters to Bolt. He simply wants to play golf.
It’s telling that Bolt’s most impassioned argument against lockdown restrictions isn’t in defense of unemployed hospo workers or struggling school students, but rather, boomers who are bored on the weekends.
“Yes, governments saved some of us from dying,” he continued.
“But they haven’t saved us from a massive overreaction.”
Sorry… what?
By calling the prevention of deaths an “overreaction”, Bolt well and truly entered the territory of prioritising a few people’s outdoor time over other people’s entire lives.
Of course, his cites a Chinese study showing that comparatively few coronavirus transmissions had occurred in outdoor spaces.
This is the same Andrew Bolt who regurgitated a completely unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that the virus was created in a lab in Wuhan, so it’s interesting that he chooses to trust Chinese academics when it suits him.
As if it even needed to be said: staying at home is a good idea.
Fuck your golf, fuck your trampoline venue, and fuck your chicken strips.
