by Jordan Schachtel
When faced with overwhelming data that show lockdowns don’t work to stop the spread of COVID-19, the lockdown advocates’ fallback position is always something along the lines of, “well, they didn’t lock down hard enough!” Yet, even the most drawn out lockdowns in the world are not working whatsoever. The longest lockdown on record, which is approaching 200 days, isn’t stopping COVID-19. Instead, it is producing record numbers of new cases and deaths. It not only has failed spectacularly, it has had the additional side effect of bringing a nation to the brink of economic collapse.
Argentina is currently operating the world’s longest lockdown, which some Argentinians now refer to as “quaranternity.” On Monday, Argentina will hit the 200 days of lockdown milestone.
On March 16, Argentina completely closed its borders to the outside world, and three days later, Buenos Aires imposed a nation-wide, mandatory lockdown. The lockdown was only expected to last two weeks time, yet here we are, on day 198 of Argentina’s lockdown, which is scheduled to last until at least October 11. Given the government’s track record of continually extending restrictions (and promising to lift lockdowns, while at the last second, pulling the plug on those ideas), it seems that there’s little to no chance that the restrictions will actually end in a week’s time.
In the Spring, Argentina’s heavy restrictions were hailed as a coronavirus “success story.” The press lavished praised upon Buenos Aires, claiming that lockdown has kept the virus “contained” and “saved lives.”
Notably, the dispatches from the international press celebrating Argentina’s “success” are no longer being published. That’s because the reality on the ground tells us a very different story from the initial narrative being distributed by the media. Yesterday, Argentina recorded a record high number of new cases, and reported 311 COVID-19 related deaths, which is its third highest day on record. 200 days of lockdown doesn’t seem to have done much of anything to protect Argentinians from COVID-19.Argentina has been in lockdown since March 20, yet the country is still posting high Covid-19 case and death numbers. @lucasberti explains why.https://t.co/LRThrViyhZ
— The Brazilian Report (@BrazilianReport) September 26, 2020
“We see a sustained increase … in relation to the number of cases and the number of deaths,” the Health Ministry’s Secretary of Access to Health, Carla Vizzotti, told the press on Saturday.
President Alberto Fernández's approval rating has dived after lockdown measures failed to prevent a COVID-19 spike and compounded Argentina's economic woes.
➡️ In this week's #WeeklyAsado, @AveryDyer12 and @SaraTorres_r compare COVID-19 crises in Argentina 🇦🇷 and Colombia 🇨🇴
— Argentina Project (@ArgentinaProj) October 3, 2020
Even though #Argentina, the world's biggest deadbeat, remains locked down, infection and death rates continue to climb. @alferdez's ill-advised #Lockdown is now forcing millions into poverty with nothing to show for it. pic.twitter.com/IIQFeeV6mj
— Prof. Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) September 16, 2020
As a direct result of the heavy restrictions imposed by the government, Argentina’s economy has been in total freefall. The country’s economy is forecast to shrink a staggering 12 percent, which is about double the hit projected for neighboring Brazil, which has taken a less restrictive approach to the virus. Economists remain concerned that Argentina, which was already suffering through economic woes prior to the pandemic, is on the brink of total collapse.
Time to end the Lockdown’s and get back to Normal and vote out the Democrats