Several Norwegian doctors sign petition for coronavirus to spread freely among young people
The “Great Barrington Declaration” appeal advocates building herd immunity by letting the virus spread freely while people in the risk group are isolated indoors, according to Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK).
More than 500,000 people have signed the petition.
Among them, 28,400 doctors and 10,300 medical and public health researchers.
Doctor and radiologist Per Mathisen at Sørlandet Hospital, former editor Charlotte Haug in the Norwegian Medical Association Journal, and former municipal chief physician Dagfinn Haarr in Kristiansand municipality are among those who have signed.
Earlier this week, WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus went out and warned against such a strategy.
Assistant Director of Health Espen Nakstad agrees with the WHO.
“Unethical”
“It is obvious that you can’t protect a single age group completely. All experience indicates that the infection spreads from younger to older people when the pressure of infection in society becomes large enough.
“We have, for example, seen that employees at nursing homes and hospitals can infect residents and patients, simply because they are contagious before they even notice that they have symptoms,” Nakstad told NRK.
“It would also be unethical to lock in all the elderly and isolate them to a greater extent than today,” he continued.
Until recently, it was possible to see who signed the petition.
According to The Independent, several signed the petition with fake names such as “Dr. Person Fakename,” “Dr. Johnny Fartpants,” and “Mr. Banana Rama.”
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
