On September 3 Denmark lifted all of its COVID restrictions, becoming the first country in the European Union to do so.
At the time, Denmark had achieved a fully-vaccinated rate of 73 percent in adults, a figure well below targets set by US National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, but slightly higher than the European average.
Even though Denmark had achieved a 96 percent fully vaccinated rate in the key 50 and older demographic, there was still uncertainty surrounding Denmarkâs decision to lift COVID restrictions.
âWill the lifting of restrictions go well? Who knows,â tweeted Michael Bang Petersen, a scientist who advised Denmark and led the countryâs largest behavioral COVID-19 project. âNew variants may emerge & restrictions reappear. Yet, from a behavioral perspective, I am optimistic about the future.â
Will the lifting of restrictions go well? Who knows (as even the DK gov agrees). New variants may emerge & restrictions reappear. Yet, from a behavioral perspective, I am optimistic about the future. Even with a 3rd wave, mutual trust should be high enough to pull thru. (13/14)
— Michael Bang Petersen (@M_B_Petersen) September 10, 2021
The Initial Results
Itâs been nearly three weeks since Denmark lifted restrictions, long enough to get the first glimpse of results from the Danish governmentâs decision. (Harvard researchers say the incubation period of the virus is two to 14 days, with symptoms typically appearing within four or five days of exposure.)
And so far, the results are promisingâand then some.
On September 3, Denmarkâs 3-day rolling average of cases was 739. On September 21, the 3-day rolling average was 288. In other words, Denmark didnât see a surge in cases after lifting all restrictions. To the contrary, cases fell by 60 percent. Deaths also remain low. Meanwhile, CNN reports there has been no notable increase in hospitalizations.
Cases are down 60 percent after Denmark lifted all COVID restrictions on September 3.
Just sayin. pic.twitter.com/gVVlnfg6NQ
— Jon Miltimore (@miltimore79) September 23, 2021
âThe harm to people is catastrophic,â said Bhattacharya.
Less invasive mitigations, such as mask mandates, come with less severe unintended consequencesâincluding potential learning development issues and traumatic experiences for deaf people unable to communicateâbut also appear equally ineffective in mitigating the spread of the virus.
This is one of the many reasons you should be opposed to mask mandates.
Iâm pro-face and humanity; Iâm anti-mandates and cruelty. pic.twitter.com/rVzmzfqmjG
— Aaron Ginn (@aginnt) September 17, 2021
Judging Policies by Results
The Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman famously warned against the modern propensity to pass policies based on how they make us feel, not what they actually achieve.
âOne of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results,â Friedman noted. âWe all know a famous road that is paved with good intentions. The people who go around talking about their soft heart . . . I admire them for the softness of their heart, but unfortunately it very often extends to their head as well.â
Friedman wasnât just having some fun at the expense of his ideological opponents. He was highlighting a very real problemâone that has been revealed time and again in the coronavirus pandemic.
Americans and their political leaders, like many around the world, believed they could vanquish, contain, or slow the coronavirus if they only centrally planned hard enough. Unlike previous pandemics, they unleashed the power of the state to that endâand failed miserably.
Some nations, such as Denmark, are finally coming to grips with this reality.
âDenmark today is free of COVID restrictionsâthough not COVID-19âbecause Danish leaders arrived at the prudent and sensible conclusion that Danes must live with the coronavirus, which cannot be defeated or extinguished through central planning,â I noted last week.
Letâs hope American leaders and nations recognize this truth and follow the path Denmark has forged.
This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.